You couldn't be talking about them having some Customer Service training?!? :mg:
That's just crazy-talk!
Actually I've not had any rude TSA staff deal with me when I've passed through the US after 2001.
I'm not talking "rudeness" - I'm talking meaningful response to a situation. Recently, I had a special battery in my hand baggage - long and rectangular - which excited their interest when going through an X-ray. The TSA response was to take out every single item in my bag, wipe each piece with a fresh piece of gauze held in long forceps, and then run the gauze through [I suppose] a chemical sniffer, checking for explosive materials. Elapsed time - 20 minutes, during which time I was not allowed to reclaim my shoes or belt, but forced to stand like an idiot - not even a chair for a senior citizen!
I agree, but when I am standing there, I really don't care who is to blame.
I was not mad at the worker; I was incensed at the idiot who created that policy and training method without regard for the comfort of the traveler, compounded by the fact they would not [or could not] explain what they were doing or how long the process would take.
Really? That is the only effective part of there program, in my view. Of course it is a test of competency. Ball players are tested this way every time they catch/don't catch the ball.
Yeah! Maybe. But they don't test a batter by pitching him a ball that explodes into powder upon impact with the bat, nor test a fielder by requiring him to determine whether the ball hit to him in the field is an official ball for that league or a clever counterfeit.
I recall seeing blueprints for a hand air gun made entirely out of machined plastic (Delron), firing small plastic hypodermics for darts. The specifications accompanying the prints declared the gun could be pumped up to the same air pressure and shooting specs as
these guns (Note: PBA ammo is "performance ballistic alloy")
Such a gun is most likely intended for the specific purpose of evading metal detectors, regardless if it is marketed as a weatherproof hunting weapon.
What good is forcing passengers to take off shoes and belt to pass through a metal detector if the passengers have those plastic handguns taped to their bodies?
How about just a sturdy plastic slingshot, using paintball type ammo but each ball filled with some toxic substance, not washable paint? I once took a survival course where we learned to make and use a sling (like David used to slay Goliath) from local materials to kill critters for food and for defense.
I'm not a terrorist, but I am an engineer and I could imagine dozens of ways to evade metal detection with non-metallic deadly weapons if one were willing to spend time, money, and energy in the endeavor.
Well . . ., I'd be happy to help fix the system, but not happy to create deadly weapons to evade the system just to show up the current shortcomings.