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This article popped up for me as I stood in line at Atlanta airport for 40 minutes. They have 20 checkpoints, one is opened. Finally they gave up putting every

This article popped up for me as I stood in line at Atlanta airport for 40 minutes. They have 20 checkpoints, one is opened. Finally they gave up putting everyone through the genital analyzer and just had us all go through the metal detector, only first I had to get yelled at for not putting my stuff in a bin ("but sir there are no bins"), then for putting it in the orange bin ("orange means stop! Don't use the orange bin!"), then for not going through the metal detector at I guess the flat out Sprint they wanted me to go through it at. The fuck is the point. This shit depresses my partner every time we travel. It feels like we're cattle. It's dehumanizing and none of my representatives have the power to do anything about it - why do I even have representatives? Edit: to the poster who asked why I refer to men as "sir," then deleted their comment, I'm not at all offended. I code switched to my southern dialect while I was in Georgia. Using the honorific will typically garner me more good will down here. If I was back in Wisconsin, it'd piss people off, so I don't use it there, for example. Or anywhere else really cause it's kinda weird.

deleted 7y ago
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dawnerd 7y ago
Meanwhile I just went through security at PDX and it was seriously the nicest thing ever. It's amazing how vastly different TSA is depending on what airport you're at.
- komali2 7y ago
  Yea, I've seen all kinds. For a federal agency there's very little consistency. California has been the best. Hawaii was pretty good but mostly because they were so chill and nice. Los Angeles was the most strict but most engaging in conversation. They picked apart my lockpicking set, then let me in after making sure there wasn't a knife tucked in there, talking about the hobby the whole time.
  - dawnerd 7y ago
    Hell even at LAX it varies based on the terminal. Pretty sure the worst TSA award goes to MCO though. I dread flying through there, even with pre.
    - acct1771 7y ago
      Is there some sort of style guide that asks not to refer to it as "PreCheck", in absence of a stupid emoji?
  - foobarian 7y ago
    We had brunch at a local diner that is co-located at a small airport. A helicopter took off next to our car as we arrived, and the back door of the diner opened to the tarmac. The security amounts to not allowing small kids to be seated near the back door. It was so refreshing to see that kind of chill and pragmatic atmosphere.
    - RhodesianHunter 7y ago
      Yeah small airports dgaf, mostly because you can't bring down a skyscraper with a Cessna.
  - andrei_says_ 7y ago
    They represent culture and relational attitudes of the general population in the airport areas.
- dagw 7y ago
  It's amazing how vastly different TSA is depending on what airport you're at. Even within the same airport it seems to differ. I flew international out of JFK for the first time in a decade a few weeks ago and had been hearing horror stories of what to expect. Yet when I got there I spent less than 15 minutes in line for security, spent less then 60 seconds going through the actual security scan (metal detector, not x ray scanner) and was treated perfectly fine.
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pfranz 7y ago
That's what has always driven me nuts. No matter what the security process is, you know exactly how many people are going to show up within a couple hour window. So you should be able to make at a fairly constant amount of time. The flights are scheduled months ahead, everyone bought their tickets weeks ahead and confirmed within 24hrs. Everyone is beholden to adding more security steps like adding a personal phone number, DOB, and showing government ID, so if needed, we could add more steps to make things faster or help with capacity--many people are glad to pay for it with Clear and PreCheck.
- henrikschroder 7y ago
  I bought Global Entry two years ago. $100 for 5 years. The cost compared to tickets is pretty much a rounding error, and the experience at US airports is like night and day compared to having to go through regular security. Yes, it's a fucking protection racket, yes, it's a shakedown, but it's so worth it. If you fly more than once a year just go apply for it like yesterday.
  - andrei_says_ 7y ago
    Wait, does Global Entry give priority with domestic flights? I’ve only seen signs for global entry at immigration. Not at security.
    - jedmeyers 7y ago
      Global Entry gives you TSA Pre for free. If you don’t fly international at all then paying $25 less just for TSA might be a good option.
      - henrikschroder 7y ago
        Considering TSA Pre means you can keep your belt on, your shoes on, don't need to take out your laptop, you can just stuff everything in your carry-on, and don't have to go through the cancer-scanner, it's a massive win just for that alone.
momokoko 7y ago
I'm not sure reading the phrase "genital analyzer" makes me feel like you are giving an unbiased description of the events. In the future I would highly recommend overnight Amtrak service. At most someone may ask for an ID. And I find it to be a much more pleasant overall experience.
- xur17 7y ago
  > I the future I would highly recommend overnight Amtrak service. At most someone may ask for an ID. Every time I've looked at Amtrak as an option, it was more expensive, and took several days to get to my destination.
  - calciphus 7y ago
    I had a similar experience recently. Looking at a family road trip from SF Bay to Eugene - for four people, it's a 6 hour drive, a $900, 14+ hour train ride (overnight without beds), or a 2 hour, $800 flight.
    - r00fus 7y ago
      The trip time for airlines should include at least 2hr for transit + security line for departures and perhaps 30m-1hr for rental pickup on arrival.
- komali2 7y ago
  > I'm not sure reading the phrase "genital analyzer" makes me feel like you are giving an unbiased description of the events. I obviously am not a fan of TSA, but what is "unbiased" in this context? TSA tells us it's some sort of security analysis device, which is obviously biased because they've gone and bought thousands so I can't trust them to report accurately on it. It's also not as they say it is - independent security auditors have regularly defeated the device. Hence I posit that the device is a genital analysis device, as that is another purpose it serves.
  - jacobolus 7y ago
vkou 7y ago
> The fuck is the point. This shit depresses my partner every time we travel. It feels like we're cattle. It's dehumanizing... You've succinctly described interactions with the legal system, customs, immigration, and just about every other 'security'-sensitive bureaucracy.
acct1771 7y ago
> The fuck is the point. This shit depresses my partner every time we travel. It feels like we're cattle. It's dehumanizing... It sounds like you understand the point of this program juuuust fine. The effective rate of capture of dangerous weapons is pitiful (less than 10% according to both their own internal audits, and external tests performed by citizens). At best, it was a jobs program for many lacking education, and was also good reason to sell those backscatter machines that someone in Congress' cousin or business associate's company was selling at the time.
- devoply 7y ago
  What I found really interesting is all this shit treatment has not effected tourism to the United States. I would think there would be huge backlash to all of this, but nope US continues to be a popular spot for foreigners to visit. They don't care about the dehumanization. If there was a huge backlash they might stop to not hurt all the tourism dollars, but no they just keep on keeping on.
  - empath75 7y ago
    Hard to say how much tourism there would be in a more sane security and immigration environment.
  - creato 7y ago
    Because is it really that terrible? Yeah airport security is a bit annoying and maybe you get sternly told to do something. So what? The comments here make it sound like the TSA is committing war crimes or something. I think it's dumb, I think it's a waste of time, I think it's ineffective. I also think that most of the time, most people spend 5-40 minutes in line, get through it, and promptly forget about it. Expecting it to affect tourism to the US seems totally absurd to me.
    - chrismcb 7y ago
      Yes it is terrible. It wastes billions of dollars plus additional billions of dollars of time. It is unconstitutional. It doesnt do anything. And it purports to make us safe by making us unsafe. We have to stand in line that can easily be targeted, stands next to a barrel full of suspected explisives, walk barefoot across a dirty floor, and potentially felt up.
smt88 7y ago
I've gone through security at the Atlanta airport about 20 times a year for the last 10 years. I've never had an experience like the one you're describing. I've also had TSA Pre-check for most of that time, which may account for the difference. It's worth every penny, and many credit cards will cover the cost for you.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

dawnerd 7y ago

Meanwhile I just went through security at PDX and it was seriously the nicest thing ever. It's amazing how vastly different TSA is depending on what airport you're at.

komali2 7y ago
Yea, I've seen all kinds. For a federal agency there's very little consistency. California has been the best. Hawaii was pretty good but mostly because they were so chill and nice. Los Angeles was the most strict but most engaging in conversation. They picked apart my lockpicking set, then let me in after making sure there wasn't a knife tucked in there, talking about the hobby the whole time.
- dawnerd 7y ago
  Hell even at LAX it varies based on the terminal. Pretty sure the worst TSA award goes to MCO though. I dread flying through there, even with pre.
  - acct1771 7y ago
    Is there some sort of style guide that asks not to refer to it as "PreCheck", in absence of a stupid emoji?
- foobarian 7y ago
  We had brunch at a local diner that is co-located at a small airport. A helicopter took off next to our car as we arrived, and the back door of the diner opened to the tarmac. The security amounts to not allowing small kids to be seated near the back door. It was so refreshing to see that kind of chill and pragmatic atmosphere.
  - RhodesianHunter 7y ago
    Yeah small airports dgaf, mostly because you can't bring down a skyscraper with a Cessna.
- andrei_says_ 7y ago
  They represent culture and relational attitudes of the general population in the airport areas.
dagw 7y ago
It's amazing how vastly different TSA is depending on what airport you're at. Even within the same airport it seems to differ. I flew international out of JFK for the first time in a decade a few weeks ago and had been hearing horror stories of what to expect. Yet when I got there I spent less than 15 minutes in line for security, spent less then 60 seconds going through the actual security scan (metal detector, not x ray scanner) and was treated perfectly fine.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

pfranz 7y ago

That's what has always driven me nuts. No matter what the security process is, you know exactly how many people are going to show up within a couple hour window. So you should be able to make at a fairly constant amount of time. The flights are scheduled months ahead, everyone bought their tickets weeks ahead and confirmed within 24hrs. Everyone is beholden to adding more security steps like adding a personal phone number, DOB, and showing government ID, so if needed, we could add more steps to make things faster or help with capacity--many people are glad to pay for it with Clear and PreCheck.

henrikschroder 7y ago
I bought Global Entry two years ago. $100 for 5 years. The cost compared to tickets is pretty much a rounding error, and the experience at US airports is like night and day compared to having to go through regular security. Yes, it's a fucking protection racket, yes, it's a shakedown, but it's so worth it. If you fly more than once a year just go apply for it like yesterday.
- andrei_says_ 7y ago
  Wait, does Global Entry give priority with domestic flights? I’ve only seen signs for global entry at immigration. Not at security.
  - jedmeyers 7y ago
    Global Entry gives you TSA Pre for free. If you don’t fly international at all then paying $25 less just for TSA might be a good option.
    - henrikschroder 7y ago
      Considering TSA Pre means you can keep your belt on, your shoes on, don't need to take out your laptop, you can just stuff everything in your carry-on, and don't have to go through the cancer-scanner, it's a massive win just for that alone.

momokoko 7y ago

I'm not sure reading the phrase "genital analyzer" makes me feel like you are giving an unbiased description of the events. In the future I would highly recommend overnight Amtrak service. At most someone may ask for an ID. And I find it to be a much more pleasant overall experience.

xur17 7y ago
> I the future I would highly recommend overnight Amtrak service. At most someone may ask for an ID. Every time I've looked at Amtrak as an option, it was more expensive, and took several days to get to my destination.
- calciphus 7y ago
  I had a similar experience recently. Looking at a family road trip from SF Bay to Eugene - for four people, it's a 6 hour drive, a $900, 14+ hour train ride (overnight without beds), or a 2 hour, $800 flight.
  - r00fus 7y ago
    The trip time for airlines should include at least 2hr for transit + security line for departures and perhaps 30m-1hr for rental pickup on arrival.
komali2 7y ago
> I'm not sure reading the phrase "genital analyzer" makes me feel like you are giving an unbiased description of the events. I obviously am not a fan of TSA, but what is "unbiased" in this context? TSA tells us it's some sort of security analysis device, which is obviously biased because they've gone and bought thousands so I can't trust them to report accurately on it. It's also not as they say it is - independent security auditors have regularly defeated the device. Hence I posit that the device is a genital analysis device, as that is another purpose it serves.
- jacobolus 7y ago

vkou 7y ago

> The fuck is the point. This shit depresses my partner every time we travel. It feels like we're cattle. It's dehumanizing... You've succinctly described interactions with the legal system, customs, immigration, and just about every other 'security'-sensitive bureaucracy.

acct1771 7y ago

> The fuck is the point. This shit depresses my partner every time we travel. It feels like we're cattle. It's dehumanizing... It sounds like you understand the point of this program juuuust fine. The effective rate of capture of dangerous weapons is pitiful (less than 10% according to both their own internal audits, and external tests performed by citizens). At best, it was a jobs program for many lacking education, and was also good reason to sell those backscatter machines that someone in Congress' cousin or business associate's company was selling at the time.

devoply 7y ago
What I found really interesting is all this shit treatment has not effected tourism to the United States. I would think there would be huge backlash to all of this, but nope US continues to be a popular spot for foreigners to visit. They don't care about the dehumanization. If there was a huge backlash they might stop to not hurt all the tourism dollars, but no they just keep on keeping on.
- empath75 7y ago
  Hard to say how much tourism there would be in a more sane security and immigration environment.
- creato 7y ago
  Because is it really that terrible? Yeah airport security is a bit annoying and maybe you get sternly told to do something. So what? The comments here make it sound like the TSA is committing war crimes or something. I think it's dumb, I think it's a waste of time, I think it's ineffective. I also think that most of the time, most people spend 5-40 minutes in line, get through it, and promptly forget about it. Expecting it to affect tourism to the US seems totally absurd to me.
  - chrismcb 7y ago
    Yes it is terrible. It wastes billions of dollars plus additional billions of dollars of time. It is unconstitutional. It doesnt do anything. And it purports to make us safe by making us unsafe. We have to stand in line that can easily be targeted, stands next to a barrel full of suspected explisives, walk barefoot across a dirty floor, and potentially felt up.

smt88 7y ago

I've gone through security at the Atlanta airport about 20 times a year for the last 10 years. I've never had an experience like the one you're describing. I've also had TSA Pre-check for most of that time, which may account for the difference. It's worth every penny, and many credit cards will cover the cost for you.