Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
User Journal

Journal annielaurie's Journal: The Great TSA Violation of 2004 10

Journal by annielaurie

OK, very strange trip last week. The flight was from BWI to BHM, on Southwest. It's a less than two hour deal.

This time I packed to stay for two weeks, and I packed a lot of dress clothes for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture. Clothes, two pairs of shoes, and assorted underwear made a monolithic mass in the medium-sized Samsonite rolling suitcase that is my mainstay. A second, smaller suitcase held assorted jeweler's tools, wires and stringing materials, my kit bag, and a pair of sweats. I checked with Southwest before packing this one, because of all those tools, and was told simply to tell the attendant at check-in. (I checked both bags, again because of the tools.)

To my surprise, when I picked up my baggage, the larger bag had a tie-wrap arrangement in blue secured through the zippers. It bore the legend "TSA" and an inscrutable number. Upon arriving at Aged Mum's and preparing to unpack, I found a very patriotic-looking red, white, and blue card reposing atop the pile of clothes. It said, essentially: "Hello from your friends at TSA. We found it necessary to paw through this bag. It's a good thing you had left it unlocked, otherwise we would have busted the lock. Hail to the Chief."

I have a lot of questions about this. Why, for example, check the bag of LL Bean's best womens' wear while leaving all the sharp objects and wire in the other bag alone? Where is my necklace of pink freshwater pearls that I wear with everything these days? Am I alone in getting the skeeves because they didn't check the bag in my presence? (US Customs, noted for their great surliness, has pawed through my luggage on numerous occasions--always in my presence. Mexican Customs actually extracted a pair of white cotton drawers and held them aloft for all to see--but I was right there to chew them out.) How did browsing through my underwear enable TSA to enhance homeland security? Am I unpatriotic to want my necklace back? Would I feel any better if I didn't know they'd checked the bag? Now that I have had a bag checked, am I somehow marked for life?

I have no idea of the answers to any of these. I don't feel very patriotic at the moment, and I'm as mad as hell about my necklace. If we have to go through this, it would be nice not to get robbed.

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

The Great TSA Violation of 2004 More

The Great TSA Violation of 2004

Comments Filter:
  • When I went to Las Vegas back in October, TSA checked mine, too. I ended up gaining half a bag of chips (sans the bag), and pepsi or coke spilled all over basically everything i brought. The airline ended up covering the cleaning bill after I and my companion blew up at them (though it took me till about a week ago to finally get the compensation check). The TSA won't do a DAMN thing for ANYONE. If they'd destroyed my PDA and/or Cell Phone, I don't know what would have happened but I can assure you it w
    • OK, so what you're saying is they're allowed to consume greasy food and soft drinks while they're pawing through your personal belongings? Somehow I find that beyond disgusting. I assume they wear rubber gloves...

      Actually, my cell phone and PDA sailed through inspection. I had them in my purse. I doubt you will have any problems. Take them off and put them in one of the plastic bins with your jacket or coat.

      (I spent a lot of time in Vegas about four years ago, setting three hotels up with thin-clients an
      • well, i figured i wouldn't have much use for my phone or pda on the flight, so i packed them. this time, they're staying attached to me. my cell phone previously was in almost new condition, and came out of inspection in not-so-great shape..

        i'd like to get to spend more time there.. but so far i've only gone when the company has sent me.. it's good to be a prize winner :D

        • I wonder what their official procedure is for filing a complaint. Sounds as though you have one.

          I doubt you'll have any trouble at all with your phone and PDA. I haven't traveled with a laptop since pre-9/11, but people seem to get along all right with those, too.

          Anne
          • i don't know what your little white and red tag that said you bag had been inspected said, but mine basically said "if you have a complaint with our methods, shove it".. my next flight itinerary states that "ALL baggage will be opened and inspected by TSA, effective January 1st" .. ugh.

            (did i mention they broke off a bunch of locks on the suitcase that were not actually locking anything closed?? lol)

  • Where is my necklace of pink freshwater pearls that I wear with everything these days?

    Perhaps it would be better if the statute treated theft from baggage under those circumstances as a case of violation of civil rights under color of law. That would make it much easier to come down on both the thief and the agency when they pull shit like this.

    (I almost wrote "when shit like this happens", but shit doesn't just happen; people do shit, and they ought to pay a high price for it.)

  • I guess I've had or witnessed too many disagreeable incidents with US Customs. That has left me suspicious and angry about many issues related to "security" in general.

    Both of my sons (young adults--late teens, early twenties) traveled to Europe over the same Christmas vacation a couple of years ago. One went to Ireland, the other to Amsterdam. The older of the two was mugged and made it home with only a few dollars in his pocket. He was held by Customs for over four hours for no reason at all. They don'
  • Did you see this JE by tuxette [slashdot.org]? Schneier seems to have a fairly common-sense viewpoint. What I would like to have explained to me, in your case, is exactly how searches of checked luggage improve security. They were already sniffing luggage with explosive chemical detectors. This would not have caught any of the 9/11 hijackers. It's bad that it's degrading, but it's even worse because it's pointless.
    • It's quite a rational discussion, and I wish it would go to the front page. It'd be interesting to read and gauge the reactions of the whole community.

      Thank you for pointing it out. I have a feeling this is going to keep bothering me. I'll have several more flights on Southwest before the Aged Mum is settled in her new digs.

      Anne
      • In comments, I've seen that Schneier is not very well respected by the Slashdot population at large. I don't know why, though. I've submitted at least one very relevant story based on something that he wrote, and it was rejected. He's a fairly well-respected security researcher. If you're interested in his point of view, he publishes an e-mail newsletter called Crypto-gram [schneier.com]; back issues and subscription information are available at that link. The latest one just hit my mailbox today.

Slashdot Top Deals

"Look! There! Evil!.. pure and simple, total evil from the Eighth Dimension!" -- Buckaroo Banzai

Close