TSA leaves note "Get Your Freak On Girl" for vibrator in luggage

I don't really disagree with you on most of your post, but I just think people are a little too uptight anymore. Even she thought it was funny at first.

What if I was going through the 'resistance' screening procedure and he said "Boy, you are going to make someone very happy." One, that would be a compliment, two, I would probably be laughing the rest of the trip. Or it can be done the cold, conservative way and make me feel like I got felt up by some 50 year old dude.

And with the Tea Party and the other southern state anti-sex laws, congress could pass a law banning sex toys on airplanes. It isn't that far of a stretch.

 

My dad used to drive truck through Eastern Europe from late 60's to 80's. I was 10 in late 70's, when I got the chance to travel along with him and mom all the way to Greece via Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Checkoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Crossing borders was always very intimidating. I don't remember us having big problems, dad was sure to have all the necessary documentary at hand, but at one customs we saw one family standing aside while their sedan was inspected inside out before us.

That's decades ago and different place but even today at times the queueing lines for trucks to Russia borders have been as long as 40 kilometres, because their bureaucracy sucks.

I don't know much about travelling, I've flown only once and had to accept a bodycheck at my first departure. It's embarrassing and uncomfortable to be touched in front of all departees, I probably would have rather taken a note in my suitcase instead, because it is quite obvious, they look at EVERYTHING in there.

It's reassuring though, that women in Western world today are so safe when travelling, this is the most offending thing that can happen to them. Someone talking to their vibrator.

 

I see. Well, I would agree with that. I do believe we should pay more to have better staff at the TSA. But I'm not one of these people who runs around fretting about 'higher taxes' as if the sun were going to fall out of the sky were I were to be parted with a little more of my spare cash to pay for something we need, either.

Still, you do something that stupid at work, any work, delivering pizzas, taking returns at the Ross, stocking groceries at Winn Dixie, making fries at McDonald's, you have a higher than likely chance of getting fired.

And people haven't gotten 'more uptight' in this respect. It has always been this way. There is behavior that is appropriate at work (esp. when dealing with clients and airline passengers are the TSA's 'clients') and there is behavior that is not. It doesn't take a psychologist to determine the difference between the two.

 

Governmental immunity is a pretty common thing. The most visible case right now is the Indiana state collapse. The state has set their maximum liability at $5M for any single event, regardless of the number of claimants. Honestly, it's a good idea from a risk management standpoint. If they don't cap their liability, then they'd spend a lot more of taxpayer dollars on insurance premiums than on things that need doing. The Federal government has the same thing - you can't sue IRS agents for auditing you, and you can't sue park rangers if you get injured while they're performing their duties.
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Two answers - it would be one thing if he made the joke to her face. He didn't. He wrote a note and slipped it into her checked luggage while it was out of her view and control. It's one thing to see someone and think that they're likely to find it funny. It's something completely different to know nothing about the person beyond the contents of their luggage and do something like this. I'm right there with you when you're face to face with someone else, but as soon as the door closes to the baggage inspection area - which is never done in public, by the way, regardless of airport - there ceases to be any chance of this ever being funny.

And the Tea Party and Southerners could try to ban alcohol from checked luggage too. That's not going to happen either.

 

The sad thing is, yes, you fuck up somewhere on the job no matter what you are paid you'll be fired. But, when you are working at a job and barely making enough to pay for the necessities, there's a stress there that causes some people to make stupid mistakes. Maybe, that "joke" was a way for that person to relieve stress. He didn't think about what could happen, he saw a way to laugh and make his day and thinking perhaps her day somewhat nicer with a smile and a moment's escape that he fucked up.

Is it right is it wrong? Obviously it was wrong and he got fired and deservedly so. But when you know you can go to McD's and make around the same amount and not have the stress from that job, then what do you truly have to lose? I've been there.

I've also had a very good job and lost it simply because a client (who had a warrant for assault and was in detox simply to hide from the police) threatened me and touched me in a way that was threatening. The reason for my termination was I called the police and embarrassed the director of the facility, the official reason was I broke confidentiality. Other than that one incident I had never had a write up or a bad mark on my record. My feeling was and is, I did nothing wrong part of recovery is to accept responsibility and be responsible for your actions, I was holding that client responsible for his actions. I told him he couldn't use the phone, he reached over the counter and began dialing and I hung the phone up never touching him or threatening him. I did my job and was fired. I saw co workers doing far worse and not getting shit done to them. I just didn't play politics.

Again, I have no point, my brain just isn't working. I am going off on tangents and yeah.... gotta love the after effects of a stroke and brain surgery.

 

I get your point, but I don't buy the 'I am so stressed out as a TSA agent that I forgot that I'm not supposed to taunt passengers about the vibrator I saw in their luggage' bit. Nor do I believe he was trying to put a smile on her face.

Besides, the simple fact is, sometimes you do stupid shit and you pay the consequences. It's not the end of the world. Nor is it particularly newsworthy.

 

Agreed. Inappropriate for sure, but I still laughed.

 

There's an expectation regardless of the pay scale that someone in this position perform their duties as a professional. That clearly was not the case. Considering that there are thousands of TSA agents across the US, it is no surprise that some are less than professional in how they handle their duties. Termination seems a bit harsh but it does send a message to the rest that this behavior will not be tolerated. And it shouldn't be.

Regardling immunity and limits to liability, I think we'd all be surprised how much of that exists with governmental bodies. Dear friends in CA lost their teenage daughter 10 years ago as an innocent victim of a ill-advised and unwarranted police chase. The chase was clearly against policy and the officers were told to discontinue, however they did not. Under state law in CA (at least at that time), there was no recourse against law enforcement agencies even when the actions were outside of policy. The officers were not reprimanded, no ability for settlement in wrongful death. I can understand protecting law enforcement from law suits while performing their duties, however when they step out of bounds, that makes no sense. I'm sure it is like this elsewhere.

 

And the coldest by far are the ones sitting in their little booths at the US Border - God bless 'em, they're doing their level best to be intimidating. Last time I went through on a trip back from the UK, I was overwhelmed by an urge to lift my shirt up and show him my tits. Just to get a sign of something human from him. I didn't of course.

 

I just flew into Detroit from London a week ago, never occurred to me to lift my shirt and show my tits. Go figure.

 

haha

 

We always take at least one toy with us when we travel. We only forgot to remove the batteries once and they were dead by the time we got to Maui. Not sure if any TSA agents heard it, but we didn't find a note!

 

The woman obviously wasn't horrified. If she was she wouldn't have shared this with her friends and twitter and the rest of the internet.
Was the note inappropriate? Maybe. Was it unprofessional? Sure. Was it worth having a fit over and forcing a man out of a job? Absolutely not.
This was harmless fun in which no one got hurt. I say let it be.

 

Firing the perpetrator seems exctreme to me.

A disciplinary warning would have sufficed. I think it would have been wrong to take no action once this had come out.

 

And she got 15 minutes of fame out of it. Surely that should negate the offense.

 

We recently brought a toy in check in baggage! Glad we are not caught embarrassed

 

It's not against the law and you'll ever know if they even bothered to notice it.

I was behind a woman going through customs last year when she and I were "tagged" by a security K9. Both of us were taken into a side room and searched. I had at least one toy which the security agent pulled out of from under some clothing then quickly returned. The other woman's luggage contained 2 socks filled with contraband meat (yes, they looked like big dildos). Now that's embarrassing and not too smart on her part.