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Live Q&A With Ex-TSA Agent Jason Harrington Tomorrow 3pm ET

Posted by samzenpus on from the coming-soon dept.

Jason Harrington's story pulling back the curtain on life as a TSA agent was an uncomfortable revelation to some, and a confirmation to many frustrated travelers. His descriptions of a typical day on the job highlighted why few in the security line were happy, including the agents: 'I hated it from the beginning. It was a job that had me patting down the crotches of children, the elderly and even infants as part of the post-9/11 airport security show. I confiscated jars of homemade apple butter on the pretense that they could pose threats to national security. I was even required to confiscate nail clippers from airline pilots—the implied logic being that pilots could use the nail clippers to hijack the very planes they were flying.' Jason will be sitting down with us tomorrow Friday, February 28th starting at 3pm ET (20:00 GMT) to talk with you live about security theater and life after the TSA.

4 of 21 comments (clear)

  1. Pilots hijacking planes by QuasiSteve · · Score: 2

    I was even required to confiscate nail clippers from airline pilotsâ"the implied logic being that pilots could use the nail clippers to hijack the very planes they were flying

    "Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot hijacks plane to seek Geneva asylum" - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-...

    Of course security theater would still be in effect regardless, considering he didn't even need any weapon. Maybe as 'ongoing efforts to strengthen air transport security', cockpits should have private restrooms ;)

  2. Re:Not surprising at all by i+kan+reed · · Score: 2

    I wish there was some objective test that would help us identify those that enjoy hassling others. Sadly the best metric we have is childhood essays on how they want to go into law enforcement.

  3. Re:Not surprising at all by N1AK · · Score: 2

    Have you seen how many people are queuing up to work as barely tolerated drones in Amazon warehouses for piss poor wages? If you think people won't do just about anything in return for a wage then you're naive.

  4. Advice on how to play the game by noh8rz10 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Presumably you're fielding questions. I would like some real world advice on two things:
    1) how can I get through security as fast as possible?
    2) how can I minimize my chances of getting my nuts grabbed?

    I'm not going to throw a principled fit at the security checkpoint because I know it won't accomplish anything at all. I'll fight my battles elsewhere. I'll play the game in line, yessir, yes ma'am, whatever. Just get me through an don't grab my nuts! I have a plane to catch and want to leave with my dignity intact.

    So any advice on playing the game? That would be nice.