07 September, 2004

Uhm, Scott, face it. Your job isn't about security.

Scott Wallace, TSA Security Screener says:

"I am a security screener at Dulles International Airport.

When I started my job with the Transportation Security Administration in November 2002, I and the other just-hired employees of the newly federalized airport security force believed we would be doing something important in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001. Now, some of us aren't so sure.

Although management likes to refer to the screeners as "Team Dulles," in reality many of us believe we are working in a dysfunctional environment. We've come to question the value of what we do. A running joke at the checkpoints in the main terminal at Dulles is, "Guns, bombs and common sense are prohibited by the TSA in the airport."

TSA policies at Dulles often seem to do little more than improve the appearance of security. For example, the agency allows foot-long knitting needles and bottles of wine and liquor to be carried aboard planes, but not scissors for clipping fingernails or nose hair. A broken bourbon bottle can be a lethal weapon. How does a pair of tiny scissors become deadly?"


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Scott, thank you for writing and confirming what so many already know, and I do not mean to be harsh, but your job is just to bring the police state one step closer. Moreover, if you really want to do something productive, then quit and go get a real job not in the government sector; better yet- start your own business.

--WP

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