Deseret News | TSA makes lots of us belligerent

Reader comments
Lee Benson: TSA makes lots of us belligerent

Mahershalalhashbaz | 10:32 p.m. Sept. 27, 2009

Ha ha, loved it! If you hate TSA, wait till the Dumocrats pass universal health care!!!!

Thank You Lee Benson ! | 12:09 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

Been there, done that, but not the full body strip search scan. I am glad Rep. Chaffetz has the guts to say what he thinks.

I will vote for him again next year. Sorry Senator Bennett, you are near the bottom of my choices. We could use someone else to tell TSA what they can do with their machine. I am just waiting for Cherilyn Eagar to say something about the scanner.

Anonymous | 4:16 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

We can thank folks like for you planes crashing into buildings...

Comments continue below

UTAH Bill | 4:20 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

I fly frequently and have yet to be treated poorly or see anyone treated poorly by TSA staff.

Frankly, the handful of people I know that do complain are the type who take their displeasure with the system out on the TSA staff. They don't like the security measures our government has implemented. That's fine, but they don't have to take it out on others.

TSA staff are just doing their job. It’s probably tough enough without being treated disrespectfully. As I go through the security line at the airport I try to remind myself that I’m going to have a safe flight. And, I can thank the TSA employees who ensure that.

uncannygunman | 7:02 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

"Let's face it, the system is devoid of honor and humanity. Step in the security line and you lose your dignity and your rights. You're presumed guilty before you're proven innocent. The terrorists won."

These are some of the wisest words ever written on this subject, and they sum up my feelings on the matter exactly. Mistakenly believing that you have some human rights or dignity--and asserting those beliefs in any detectable way--is what gets you in trouble in the security line. And that applies whether you're a congressmen or a common citizen.

Frequent Flyer | 8:39 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

I fly weekly, and have witnessed a few instances when people take exception to the way they are treated. In every case, the person acting inappropriately is the traveler. The TSA employees see hundreds, if not thousands of passengers every day and are frequently abused by people who think they don't have to play by the rules. None of us enjoy the process, but it is the way it is. Just live with the process, and everyone's experience at airport security will be more pleasant..... and Representative Chaffetz, get over yourself.

Jack | 8:45 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

One one trip I was scolded for not putting my shoes in a separate bin, on the return flight I was scolded for putting my shoes in a separate bin. I was scolded for putting my now empty laptop case in a bin, anyone should know a laptop case goes directly on the belt.

TSA can do anything and everything they want, there is little or no recourse when they get full of themselves.

mwunderli | 8:54 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

I had a very unpleasant experience with TSA at 5AM in the morning. I was NOT allowed to leave the line with the full body scanner.

meta | 10:23 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

Come on ... what's the issue here ... a blustery, self-important congressman who doesn't want to follow the rules ... or rather, public safety?

Granted, airport security is awkward, inconvenient and time-consuming but I find this a small price to pay for my flying safety and the potential safety of those who otherwise might be in harm's way. Certainly, abusing TSA employees need to be disciplined -- but otherwise, grow up Benson, Chaffetz et al.; let's worry about more important things.

Minimum Wage Employees | 10:40 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

Not to denigrate honest work, but what do we expect from mind-numbing work these TSA folks signed up to do? I coudlnt' stand doing it for more than about 10 minutes, let alone 8 hours. And the public can be rude too. Let's be serious here. The TSA folks doing this job are not brain surgeons. They range the gamut in experience and education, but I've noticed higher percentage of tattos (shoudl I say, "body art?") than among the regular population. I appreciate their role in providing for our security, but just wish there was a better way than making us all practically disrobe and then push us through and at tend, no place to put our shoes or belts back on.

Suspect | 10:43 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

All innocent people are treated as suspects, and worse. If they can tell that you don't like it their tactics are escalated. You must submit yourself to these "masters" of the screening line because you are at their mercy.

l | 11:24 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

Even the billionaires with private jets are going to be forced to be screened as well. The TSA has been pushing to get it required for them also.

l | 11:26 a.m. Sept. 28, 2009

I do wonder what they would say if you completely stripped. Dropped your robe in the basket and let it all out. That would make for an interesting discussion.

"make" us belligerent? | 1:50 p.m. Sept. 28, 2009

I'm a frequent flyer, as is my husband and is Rep Chaffetz. My husband and I know the rules, we make not like them, but it's a minute out of our lives.

NO ONE can "make" you belligerent unless you already have an obnoxious personality. Otherwise, you are admitting that someone doing their job, can instantaneously make you lash out.

First, you're belligent towards the TSA.
Then, it's the grocery bagger.
Then, it's the mail carrier.

I guess it *would* be easy to be belligerent, if the only time you had power, was when you were tongue-lashing a lower-paid service worker.

NO ONE can make me lose my temper by doing their job. They can, however, make me lose my temper by being the idiot in front of the TSA line, shouting about "Do you know who I AM?"

Thomas | 2:29 p.m. Sept. 28, 2009

Those who are willing to give up their liberty for a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Utahn | 3:06 p.m. Sept. 28, 2009

Classic case of watch the right hand while not know what the left hand is doing. We are so concerned and have spent billions of dollars on airport security while our borders are wide open.The Obama administration just announced they are moving 450 border patrol officers from the Southern border to the Northern border. Terrorist do not need to use airplanes again and probably won't. They have moved on to using beauty supplies. We will be hit again, but it won't be with an airplane.

K2 | 5:06 p.m. Sept. 28, 2009

Simple ways to make things run more smoothly: Be there two hours before flight on domestic routes and three hour before on international. Make sure you know beforehand what can and cannot be be in checked or carryon baggage Have pills and proper- sized liquid containers in the correct containers (think, 1 quart clear plastic zip-lock bags if necessary and on top of baggage. Check with your airline before leaving for airport to see if flight schedule or gate may have changed. Don't make small talk with the TSA people. Pay attention to signs and TV monitors. Double and triple check for your ID, boarding pass, etc. And, if you come to the airport late don't make others around you uncomfortable by moaning and tailgating (like you do on the freeway)! Life will be much more pleasant if you don't subconciously or on purpose act arrogantly, obnoxiously and stridently. And if you feel that the "full-body", or "strip-search", is beneath your status, then think of the millions who had to do so just before they walked into crematoriums in WW II. "Terrorists won" - not in my book!

Just don't fly | 9:30 p.m. Sept. 28, 2009

Let the sheep that are ok with giving up their liberty fly. Drive to your destination, use teleconferencing or web conferencing, find alternatives to the cattle chutes. If the airlines are stupid enough to let the government hobble them with this 'everyone is a potential terrorist' security strategy, then let them fail.

JD | 1:35 a.m. Sept. 29, 2009

I totally agree Mr. Benson. I fly all the time and the next time I meet a truly courteous and helpful TSA employee will be the first time it has happened.

My favorite part is the way they frisk my handicapped father. He can't go through the metal detectors very easily so he practically gets strip searched. Never mind the fact that he couldn't hijack a plan even if he had an AK-47 and a few grenades. What a joke.

Marcus | 4:59 p.m. Sept. 29, 2009

As a business traveler, I really dislike the TSA. So much shouting, and the shoe thing and the liquid limitations are so silly and pointless. What a waste of money.

Jake Tabor | 12:34 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

You know, America can't even do fascism with style. At least the Germans had sharp-looking uniforms, disciplined professionalism, and real panache. In America, our fascism comes in the form of lazy, slovenly trailer-park-dwellers who took a TSA job because Walmart wasn't hiring.

Come on, America. Let's at least put our jackbooted thugs in some shiny jackboots!

Add your comment

Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.

Words Remaining

E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.