I was a TSA screener for three years, as a former top level troubleshooter in the telecom arena - with national credentials, it was quite a comedown. TSA's major difficulty was that they hired so many people so fast, and although we all passed the initial screening, not all eventually proved to be eligible for continued employment. And TSA wasn't about to show any weakness by admitting that they might have made a mistake or two, and that a para-military organization needs to run like a military organization.HighVelocity wrote:I've been screened by TSA agents that were hardly even adults.If I was being screened by Isreali soldiers or ElAl airlines security, I'd feel a lot safer.
Of course, being the PC society that we are, saying someone looks suspicious is discrimination, stereotyping, etc.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....
Anyway, I'll tell you this much, despite poor training (or complete lack in some cases) some of those apparantly teenage screeners have the best records of finds and many are the sharpest tacks in the box. Not quite as sharp as the myriads of ex-engineers, but pretty sharp. It was a surprise to an ageist old curmudgeon like me, it really broke down some of my beliefs in terms of; age begets experience, which begets excellence.
OTOH, I would have welcomed profiling, or even "reverse profiling" (as in "frequent traveler" cards that allow one to scoot through screening after a "suitable" background check (and one of the reasons that that hasn't been implemented even after it has been touted is because there are those who claim it is "reverse profiling." Profiling would cut down the screening work load and allow TSA screeners to focus on the important stuff.
[/rant off]
Hey, let's go back and count how many little old ladies in wheelchairs have bombed buildings, or have hijacked planes and ships, or . . . Well, you probably get the point.