I met Coach Lavin and Phil Greene today

[gregbodkin]

 While working at LaGuardia Airport at my new job as a Federal Officer for the TSA and checking id's today, Coach Lavin came through with Phil Greene. He couldn't have been nicer. Phil and he both said this is going to be a great year. They seemed excited about the new talent. Coach even gave me a shout out on Twitter!

 

[mjmaherjr]

 While working at LaGuardia Airport at my new job as a Federal Officer for the TSA and checking id's today, Coach Lavin came through with Phil Greene. He couldn't have been nicer. Phil and he both said this is going to be a great year. They seemed excited about the new talent. Coach even gave me a shout out on Twitter!

 

I have a friend who is looking for a contact so he can smuggle marijuana through the airport. Any ideas ? LOL

 

[gregbodkin]

 While working at LaGuardia Airport at my new job as a Federal Officer for the TSA and checking id's today, Coach Lavin came through with Phil Greene. He couldn't have been nicer. Phil and he both said this is going to be a great year. They seemed excited about the new talent. Coach even gave me a shout out on Twitter!

 

I have a friend who is looking for a contact so he can smuggle marijuana through the airport. Any ideas ? LOL

 

Not really as I would have to make sure he was arrested. We really can't even fool around about stuff like that. Immediate dismissal and I love my job.

 

[LINY89]

 Greg that's awesome...he seems like a good guy.

 

[STJClass_2013]

Greg props on being a hard dedicated worker. Now what can you do about security moving faster at the airport?

 

[gregbodkin]

Greg props on being a hard dedicated worker. Now what can you do about security moving faster at the airport?

 

As I said in the Lavin Twitter thread, when the passengers are aware of and follow the rules, the lines move very quickly. It always comes down to some knucklehead who dosen't realize that gum wrappers (or cigarette packs, or over the counter meds or similar items) set off the metal detector, or that you can't take water bottles through or some other minor thing that holds the line up. I had one guy go through 5 times yesterday and swore to me he had emptied his pockets and was holding up the line. I finally asked him if he had any gum wrappers in his pocket. He said "Gum wrappers?". Sure enough he has gum wrappers in his pockets. They have tin foil on them. This sets the detector off. Go to TSA.gov and find out the rules and empty EVERYTHING out of your pockets and everyone will move faster. It's not us, it's mostly the passengers that slow everything down. 

 

[newsman13]

Greg props on being a hard dedicated worker. Now what can you do about security moving faster at the airport?

 

As I said in the Lavin Twitter thread, when the passengers are aware of and follow the rules, the lines move very quickly. It always comes down to some knucklehead who dosen't realize that gum wrappers (or cigarette packs, or over the counter meds or similar items) set off the metal detector, or that you can't take water bottles through or some other minor thing that holds the line up. I had one guy go through 5 times yesterday and swore to me he had emptied his pockets and was holding up the line. I finally asked him if he had any gum wrappers in his pocket. He said "Gum wrappers?". Sure enough he has gum wrappers in his pockets. They have tin foil on them. This sets the detector off. Go to TSA.gov and find out the rules and empty EVERYTHING out of your pockets and everyone will move faster. It's not us, it's mostly the passengers that slow everything down. 

 

a "pat down" would have been quicker than sending the guy through five times.

back to lavin...a friend tweeted him that he'll be at one of the road games...and lavin got back...offering to meet him at some point.

 

[gregbodkin]

Greg props on being a hard dedicated worker. Now what can you do about security moving faster at the airport?

 

As I said in the Lavin Twitter thread, when the passengers are aware of and follow the rules, the lines move very quickly. It always comes down to some knucklehead who dosen't realize that gum wrappers (or cigarette packs, or over the counter meds or similar items) set off the metal detector, or that you can't take water bottles through or some other minor thing that holds the line up. I had one guy go through 5 times yesterday and swore to me he had emptied his pockets and was holding up the line. I finally asked him if he had any gum wrappers in his pocket. He said "Gum wrappers?". Sure enough he has gum wrappers in his pockets. They have tin foil on them. This sets the detector off. Go to TSA.gov and find out the rules and empty EVERYTHING out of your pockets and everyone will move faster. It's not us, it's mostly the passengers that slow everything down. 

 


a "pat down" would have been quicker than sending the guy through five times.

back to lavin...a friend tweeted him that he'll be at one of the road games...and lavin got back...offering to meet him at some point.

 

A pat down wouldn't not be quicker because it takes personell off the line and takes some time to do it correctly. You don't just pat someone down and send him on his way. You have to test your gloves afterward as well. Trust me, Newsie, the reason people hate us is because they are ignorant of what we do and how we do it. Most of my passengers thank us for what we do and the fact that they can feel safe when they board that plane. Once again, there have been NO hijackings and NOONE has gotten any IED's through since 9/11 and we are the reason for that.

 

[fun]

It's not us, it's mostly the passengers that slow everything down. 

On the job one day and you already have the civil service mantra down pat: its not our fault, we just work here. You will go far.

 

[gregbodkin]

It's not us, it's mostly the passengers that slow everything down. 

On the job one day and you already have the civil service mantra down pat: its not our fault, we just work here. You will go far.

 

I know that you are just trying to push buttons, fun, but it's not going to work. I know the truth from being on the inside. When did you last work for the TSA?

 

[gregbodkin]

 Oh yea, I will go far to keep people like you safe.

 

[Mean Gene]

It's not us, it's mostly the passengers that slow everything down. 

On the job one day and you already have the civil service mantra down pat: its not our fault, we just work here. You will go far.

 


I agree with Greg 100%. I work for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I've work for U.S. Customs for 24 years now. If people would just follow the rules and avail themselves to all the literature that's out concerning the federal laws, rules and regulations that need to be followed and abide by them everything would move a lot quicker. All the traveling public knows is that they want to get through but they don't have a good understanding of what we are legally responsible for as Federal Officers and what we are trained to do. Nor do they care. All they want to do is complain but if something goes wrong they'll be the first people to point fingers at us and say that we didn't do our job.

 

[redken]

... Trust me, Newsie, the reason people hate us is because they are ignorant of what we do and how we do it. Most of my passengers thank us for what we do and the fact that they can feel safe when they board that plane. Once again, there have been NO hijackings and NOONE has gotten any IED's through since 9/11 and we are the reason for that.

 

Greg, I think the only people who might "hate" you are jerks. (God forgive they be inconvenienced in order to prevent another 9/11.) Keep up the good work; keep the great attitude and love of the important work you do; and continue to keep us safe.

 

[gregbodkin]

... Trust me, Newsie, the reason people hate us is because they are ignorant of what we do and how we do it. Most of my passengers thank us for what we do and the fact that they can feel safe when they board that plane. Once again, there have been NO hijackings and NOONE has gotten any IED's through since 9/11 and we are the reason for that.

 

Greg, I think the only people who might "hate" you are jerks. (God forgive they be inconvenienced in order to prevent another 9/11.) Keep up the good work; keep the great attitude and love of the important work you do; and continue to keep us safe.

 

Thanks, redken, I really appreciate that you appreciate the work we do. 

 

[fun]

I agree with Greg 100%. I work for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Well of course you agree. And in a few moments a mailman will come along and tell us how much smoother things would be at the post office if there just weren't so many letters and the person who works at the DMV giving eye tests will drop by and explain how much more efficient things would be ithere if the public could see better and someone from the EPA will be by to explain how the air would be much cleaner if the damn people would just agree to stop exhaling carbon dioxide.Because you are the government and you're here to help so why don't we just all shut up and let you do your jobs because you know better than we do what's good for us.

If people would just follow the rules and avail themselves to all the literature that's out concerning the federal laws, rules and regulations that need to be followed and abide by them everything would move a lot quicker.

 

What would really make things move quicker is less federal law and fewer rules and regulations that need to be followed. That'd speed things up a treat.

Failing that maybe the TSA could take part of its 10 billion dollar budget and develop a metal detector that can tell the difference between a piece of chewing gum and a low yield nuclear device. That might speed things up as well.

 

[gregbodkin]

It's not us, it's mostly the passengers that slow everything down. 

On the job one day and you already have the civil service mantra down pat: its not our fault, we just work here. You will go far.

 


I agree with Greg 100%. I work for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I've work for U.S. Customs for 24 years now. If people would just follow the rules and avail themselves to all the literature that's out concerning the federal laws, rules and regulations that need to be followed and abide by them everything would move a lot quicker. All the traveling public knows is that they want to get through but they don't have a good understanding of what we are legally responsible for as Federal Officers and what we are trained to do. Nor do they care. All they want to do is complain but if something goes wrong they'll be the first people to point fingers at us and say that we didn't do our job.

 

Gene, thank you for what you do and for literally putting your life on the line daily to protect our borders. You have a very important job. Most people don't even know that we lost a few good agents this past month. Keep up the good work!

 

[1and1sju]

What would really make things move quicker is less federal law and fewer rules and regulations that need to be followed. That'd speed things up a treat.

You don't really believe that, do you Fun? Surely, you recognize that there's a collective interest that doesn't manifest itself in each individual. Do I want to wait in line for two hours tomorrow at Laguardia? No, but I'm flying into LAX and the country has an interest in searching every bag and passenger thoroughly, which most people believe trumps my desire to be processed quickly.

Similarly, it's long been pointed out that no individual business gains anything by spending $$ to filter their smokestacks, but as someone who grew up in the shadow of a Grumman f-14 plant, I can tell you the surrounding communities have a collective interest in environmental standards.

Regulation is an easy target for criticism, but I surely wouldn't want to live in a society with much less standardization or coordination of values.  

 

[newsman13]

Greg props on being a hard dedicated worker. Now what can you do about security moving faster at the airport?

 

As I said in the Lavin Twitter thread, when the passengers are aware of and follow the rules, the lines move very quickly. It always comes down to some knucklehead who dosen't realize that gum wrappers (or cigarette packs, or over the counter meds or similar items) set off the metal detector, or that you can't take water bottles through or some other minor thing that holds the line up. I had one guy go through 5 times yesterday and swore to me he had emptied his pockets and was holding up the line. I finally asked him if he had any gum wrappers in his pocket. He said "Gum wrappers?". Sure enough he has gum wrappers in his pockets. They have tin foil on them. This sets the detector off. Go to TSA.gov and find out the rules and empty EVERYTHING out of your pockets and everyone will move faster. It's not us, it's mostly the passengers that slow everything down. 

 


a "pat down" would have been quicker than sending the guy through five times.

back to lavin...a friend tweeted him that he'll be at one of the road games...and lavin got back...offering to meet him at some point.

 

A pat down wouldn't not be quicker because it takes personell off the line and takes some time to do it correctly. You don't just pat someone down and send him on his way. You have to test your gloves afterward as well. Trust me, Newsie, the reason people hate us is because they are ignorant of what we do and how we do it. Most of my passengers thank us for what we do and the fact that they can feel safe when they board that plane. Once again, there have been NO hijackings and NOONE has gotten any IED's through since 9/11 and we are the reason for that.

 

i never met anyone who "hates" the tsa. well, maybe mitt romney who's having a harder time taking suitcases of cash to the cayman islands.

it's what many see as the occasional overkill. you have to test your gloves looking for gum wrappers? i buy a bottle of water once i pass security and i still can't take it on the plane? at least we're not forced to travel nude.

no hijackings and no ied's since 9/11...you must admit, much of that is due to the incredible intelligence that's been gathered and developed over the past few years.

 

[fun]

You don't really believe that, do you Fun? Surely, you recognize that there's a collective interest that doesn't manifest itself in each individual.

I absolutely believe that, yes. There's too much law and too little freedom. There's too much regulation and too little liberty. There are too many statutes passed by too many stupid self-serving politicians and too many regulations written by too many bloated beauracrats, all of them enforced by too many petty clerks and jack booted thugs. There's a difference both legal and philosophical between a government that makes reasonable provision for the common defense and welfare and one that tells you what sort of toilet paper you can deposit into what sort of toilet by the luminescence of what sort of lightbulb.

Anyway yours is a false choice. The choice is not between rules and regulations on the one hand and anarchy on the other; breathing clean air or toxins. The choice is between a code of federal regulations that's 20 feet long and comprises 200,000 pages, and one that's shorter. The choice is between a 17 thousand page tax code and one that's comprehensible to the citizens who are expected to abide by it.

Do I want to wait in line for two hours tomorrow at Laguardia? No, but I'm flying into LAX and the country has an interest in searching every bag and passenger thoroughly

Baloney. The government has an interest in searching sweaty persians with jihad in their eyes and other people likely to blow up planes. They only search every passenger and bag thoroughly because otherwise some ACLU lawyer's feelings will be hurt.

Regulation is an easy target for criticism, but I surely wouldn't want to live in a society with much less standardization or coordination of values.

I'd like to live in a society where everyone is free to do whatever they want as long as they leave me and everyone else alone while they do it, where I live my life free from government interference and spend my time and money free from government coercion. I have as little interest in your values as I presume you have in mine. The difference is that I'm not looking to impose mine on you or anyone else.

 

[Moose]

This thread is going to get locked very soon.