Bruce Schneier said:
I actually understand how it is be bottled up inside a large brain-suppressing bureaucracy.
BREAKING! TSA gate reps DO have brains!
- Thread starter mikea
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I actually understand how it is be bottled up inside a large brain-suppressing bureaucracy.
TMetzinger
Final Approach
I actually get that... there's a reg that says that she can't carry the water, and there's a reg that says she CAN carry the weapon.
It's stupid to keep her from carrying water, but it's equally stupid to keep ME from carrying water, so why should she get special treatment?
Disclaimer. I was also once in federal law enforcement and travelled armed. I had to abide by all the other rules though.
Similarly, here in DC there's a move afoot to start ticketing all the federal cops who travel in the HOV lanes in their G-cars even though there's just one cop in the car and they aren't doing active enforcement.
wsuffa
Touchdown! Greaser!
That can't come soon enough....
alaskaflyer
Final Approach
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Alaskaflyer
AuntPeggy said:
I can carry a loaded firearm, baton, but often I am interogated about pocket knives. Sigh.
OMG! There are at least TWO of them!
RJM62
Touchdown! Greaser!
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Geek on the Hill
I've always felt that a job as a TSA screener could actually be a very good gig for a certain type of well-educated person. Such an individual would understand that it's basically a task-oriented job for a bureaucracy whose policies often seem mystifying and senseless -- and wouldn't care. He or she would simply perform the tasks properly, ignore the nonsense, and leave the job at the airport at the end of each shift.
I have a lot of very highly educated, intelligent, self-unemployed friends. Most freelancers have suffered income loss in the past few years, and many have taken part-time jobs. I've noticed that the ones who seem happiest are those who take what seem to be the worst jobs -- especially when those jobs are completely unrelated to their actual professions.
One guy is absolutely thrilled with his weekend job driving a porta-potty truck. He makes something like $25.00 an hour or thereabouts and works two 10-hour shifts per weekend. Apparently, some law prohibits them from working more than 10 hours in a day, or else he'd happily pull double shifts. He basically sticks a big hose in the toilet that sucks out the, errrhh, contents, and then flips a lever that refills the toilet with the chemicals. Then he hoses down the privy, replaces the TP, and moves on to the next toilet. He calls the work "gloriously mindless."
I used to know another guy who was a retired psychologist. He retired early because he "just got tired of listening to people's problems," which kind of puts the kabosh on a psychology practice. Out of boredom more than anything else, he took a job as a ticket taker at a movie theater. Being a movie buff, he loved the job because he got to see all the movies for free -- sometimes before their public releases.
I've taken some pretty unusual part-time jobs myself at various times in my life, as well. Some of the more interesting were mosquito control technician, nuisance wildlife control agent, and smoke observer. Some of my other part-time jobs have included propane truck driver, vacuum cleaner salesman, cab driver, and window washer. I basically took whatever part-time work I could find when I needed extra cash.
So I can understand how some people would be attracted to a job like TSA screener for reasons other than their being an automaton. It's not a great-paying job, but it pays better than McDonald's does. I imagine the benefits are decent, being a federal job. It's also not entirely mindless: I suppose someone who's bright, observant, and has a passing familiarity with psychology could find ways to make a shift tolerably interesting -- as long as they don't tell their supervisors.
-Rich
I have a lot of very highly educated, intelligent, self-unemployed friends. Most freelancers have suffered income loss in the past few years, and many have taken part-time jobs. I've noticed that the ones who seem happiest are those who take what seem to be the worst jobs -- especially when those jobs are completely unrelated to their actual professions.
One guy is absolutely thrilled with his weekend job driving a porta-potty truck. He makes something like $25.00 an hour or thereabouts and works two 10-hour shifts per weekend. Apparently, some law prohibits them from working more than 10 hours in a day, or else he'd happily pull double shifts. He basically sticks a big hose in the toilet that sucks out the, errrhh, contents, and then flips a lever that refills the toilet with the chemicals. Then he hoses down the privy, replaces the TP, and moves on to the next toilet. He calls the work "gloriously mindless."
I used to know another guy who was a retired psychologist. He retired early because he "just got tired of listening to people's problems," which kind of puts the kabosh on a psychology practice. Out of boredom more than anything else, he took a job as a ticket taker at a movie theater. Being a movie buff, he loved the job because he got to see all the movies for free -- sometimes before their public releases.
I've taken some pretty unusual part-time jobs myself at various times in my life, as well. Some of the more interesting were mosquito control technician, nuisance wildlife control agent, and smoke observer. Some of my other part-time jobs have included propane truck driver, vacuum cleaner salesman, cab driver, and window washer. I basically took whatever part-time work I could find when I needed extra cash.
So I can understand how some people would be attracted to a job like TSA screener for reasons other than their being an automaton. It's not a great-paying job, but it pays better than McDonald's does. I imagine the benefits are decent, being a federal job. It's also not entirely mindless: I suppose someone who's bright, observant, and has a passing familiarity with psychology could find ways to make a shift tolerably interesting -- as long as they don't tell their supervisors.
-Rich