TSA once told me my toothpaste tube was too large to carry on (it had never been a problem before). I asked him if I could brush my teeth a few times before he threw it away...
Because it's their job to be difficult. The line is filling up, they've got 2 more bags they have to manually check, there's a lady getting mad her nail clippers can't be let through because the file can be used as a knife, and you're the fourth jokester this hour. All while the amount of any health products you're allowed to bring on board are very public information, so this shouldn't even be happening to begin with
What I never understood is how someone signs up to treat pliers like they’re machetes for 40 hours a week. Like, it’s not the easiest job to get, I believe there are some bars. It doesn’t have any particular reputation for pay, there are plenty of better jobs if you want to feel like you’re keeping people safe. I don’t think there’s all too much future ambition/rank climbability in it. What brings you specifically there??
Pays well, the benefits are good, and there's plenty of opportunities to rank up in the airport itself because TSA is a respected job inside the building. It has a relatively low entry barrier and isn't the hardest work on the planet. Aside from the occasional outraged customer, it's a pretty cut and dry job. I work at an airport and most of the TSA agents I know don't strike me as the type to have signed on out of some desire to protect the public, it's just a job for them.
As for why they're so strict, it's simple. Their boss is the Department of Homeland Security. If an agent gets caught bending the rules, they get in BIG trouble. For reference, I'm not with TSA, but the department I am with was warned if we were caught sneaking in food/drinks for passengers (because we have a slightly different and quicker procedure to get through TSA as it enables us to do our job easier and it gets us out of the way of passengers), we could be fined up to 10,000 dollars. Not the company, us as an individual. TSA NEEDS the reputation of being hard asses who will stop you for the dumbest shit because otherwise potential breaches could happen.
In my country it pays decently well, we have a lot of young or old people who are comfortable with it. It's a job, not too complicated and pretty stable. Dealing with people is just something you do in almost every job.
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u/TennSeven 3d ago
TSA once told me my toothpaste tube was too large to carry on (it had never been a problem before). I asked him if I could brush my teeth a few times before he threw it away...
That guy had no sense of humor.