Over on Lawrence Lessig's blog he posted an entry in praise of the TSA staff. Several commenters took issue, because there's something very insidious about the protocol and the agency itself, particularly with "no-fly" lists and the demand to identify yourself before being permitted to travel. These are grave problems that require addressing.
But it is still possible to appreciate people, I think, and I posted a comment generally in support of Lessig's take. With the necessary caveats, however:
"I have concerns with the whole institution, but surprisingly few concerns about the individuals themselves. I’ve had a couple of negative moments travelling (FYI - I travel about 25-35k miles every year) but most were due to to the first line of hired guns (not TSA) hired by either the airports or airlines to check people’s travel documents before they get into the security lines, and whose sense of self-importance led them to feed me bullsh*t lines about how I couldn’t take my backpack through.But for the TSAs, I think the sense of purpose has helped instill a greater level of pride in the individuals doing this than the previous private "security guards" that we used to have before (I once saw one leave her post to chase after Danny Glover...) And at the same time, I’ve seen them (the TSA people) be extremely reasonable, yet professional, despite some really dumb traveller behavior (eg, accidentally packing a pocket knife in carry-on luggage. Not that *I’ve* ever done that, mind you... um, yeah...)
But I fully grant you that I’ve been lucky. And I do still get stressed in anticipation of travelling, that on the next occasion my luck just might run out. So I feel ok about saying nice things about the professionalism I’ve seen, but at the same time it’s really hard to get too excited about a police force..."
Sadly, other people posted how their experiences had been just the opposite, encountering frustrating lacks of critical thinking skills, but I guess it's hard to get improvement unless you also appreciate when things are done right.
On the other hand, I have this sense that I'm conceding something important by allowing any sort of praise for any of the operation. There's something so defective about the whole thing, it's purpose and function and execution, and I certainly don't mean to give the civil liberty infringing aspects a free pass. I just wish to acknowledge the courtesy I've been treated with. I wonder if that's ok?