Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Aren't You Glad the TSA Is on the Job?

So we flew out of Dulles airport after spending a delightful, albeit very hot and humid, four days en famille in America's capital. Upon unpacking his suitcase back home (in Canada), my husband found a piece of paper that read:
Transportation Security Administration
NOTICE OF BAGGAGE INSPECTION
To protect you and your fellow passengers, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is required by law to inspect all checked baggage. As part of this process, some bags are opened and physically inspected. Your bag was among those selected for physical inspection.
During the inspection, your bag and its contents may have been searched for prohibited items. At the completion of the inspection, the contents were returned to your bag.
If the TSA security officer was unable to open your bag for inspection because it was locked, the officer may have been forced to break the locks on your bag. TSA sincerely regrets having to do this, however TSA is not liable for damage to your locks resulting from this necessary security precaution...
"Necessary"? Sure, but only if you're too afraid to "profile" the people who may pose a genuine security threat and instead engage in silly and futile security theatrics.

2 comments:

Carlos Perera said...

I'm sure having their personal items pawed by the neo-troglodytes who man TSA details at U. S. airports made Scaramouche and her family feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The only time I fantasize about violently overthrowing the U. S. government is during TSA "security" screens at U. S. airports. They just might be tolerable if they contributed substantially to flight security, but even a reasonably intelligent 10-year-old (quite literally, I've talked to a couple) can figure out that the system makes no sense. Heck, even the Department of Homeland Security own audits admit the inefficacy of the current screens (and I'd bet big money their auditors aren't nearly as smart as many of the 10-year-olds I know).

scaramouche said...

"Warm and fuzzy"? Well, no. But at least they didn't grope us.