lmorin
Contributor
.........
My wife and I fly on a regular basis, I also fly for work.
I see FAR more TSA agents being A holes to customers then your nice painted picture of helping old ladies cross the street and parents with kids. I am always nice polite and professional dealing with the TSA, its in my best intrest as I always have scuba gear or a huge amount of computer and electronic equipment with me. Most times I find the TSA agents very stand off, grumpy, rude, and demading. Very rarely do I hear a "please" or a "thank you", I hear SIR TAKE YOUR LAPTOP OUT OF THE BAG. Any time a question is asked an answer is returned with attitude and sometimes an eye roll. Not everyone flies all the time, and no one understands all the rules, not even the agents..........
I would guess that you must be a particular target for some reason. My wife and I fly on more than a "regular basis" and have seldom seen TSA agents being the proverbial "A holes" or "grumpy, rude," etc. The vast majority of the time they are simply neutral. Mostly, we take care of ourselves, but if they ask us to do something reasonable (which, for us at least, it always has been), we do it. It's all part of the contemporary travel game. We get grumpy, too, but seldom because of the TSA.
We've had a few interesting situations. Right after the ban on liquids went into effect, I forgot and packed two 10 oz bottles of sunscreen in a carryon with regs, lights, camera etc. The TSA agent was so interested in the unknown gear, that she picked up the two bottles of sunscreen and held them in her left hand while poking around the carry-on with her right. Finally, she tucked everything back in, bottles on top, and said, "Have a good day, sir."
The bigger problems have come in Cozumel and Roatan where, after having gone through the official security screening for the departing flight, there was a secondary, mandatory screening conducted by airline personnel, not by governmental authorities. In Cozumel (2006), this resulted in all my light batteries being confiscated. In Roatan recently, it was a pro forma inspection with a lot of rummaging, but no real looking.