Raising my voice does not constitute a threat to national security

[backscatter712]

People get angry. That's a fact of life.

Maybe it's because they didn't get silverware with their meal, maybe it's because their flight was delayed. For whatever reason, they get angry, and when they get angry, they let people know about it.

Maybe they'll make a snide remark, maybe they'll get loud, maybe they'll yell, maybe they'll cuss. But that does not constitute a threat - it's just a person that's pissed off. I'll understand if they make death threats or threats of assault, or start shoving or punching & such - that crosses the line.

So if they're not crossing that line, why do cops have to act like the fucking Gestapo, gang up on them and ruin their entire fucking life. Over what? Being pissed off? That's what's happening in this country - people get a little pissed off, and the cops overreact to the point of thinking you're going to start another 9/11. It's totally fucking insane.

This country needs an enema.

YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?

[hlthe2b]

1. People are under so much stress today and the causes

can not be obvious-- even if someone chose to ask-- in a 15 second soundbyte discussion.

To the casual observer, someone missing a plane may be nothing more than a silly mistake or inconvenience. But we can not know what hell the person went through to make that plane (against whatever odds) and the critical undertaking they need to accomplish on the other end. For the average JOE, travel is not about making that next big sale. It might be about begging for a loan from family members to avoid losing their house or the desperate need to make that flight for the first good job prospect in months.

I fear we are going to have more over-reactions, more taserings, shootings, unnecessary arrests and avoidable melt-downs in the future. God, I wish there were a real alternative to flying. The Europeans have it all over us....(in more ways than just high speed rail).

[dkofos]

2. It is if they say it is. Get used to it.

[MindPilot]

3. The only emotion you should express at an airport is

your profound gratitude to Jesus for sending George W Bush to protect you from terrorists.

Now bend over and thank the nice man for the opportunity to submit to a thorough cavity search.

Why do you hate America?

[terisan]

5. Ah so true---I now despise going to airports-I drive on trips less than 1000 miles be

cause the airport experience is so tacky and demeaning. Being charged a fare for the privelege of being treated like a criminal is not my idea of freedom.

[LiberalFighter]

4. I would so love to see a boycott of airports

With the message that it is because of the poor service of the TSA.

[Mind_your_head]

18. TSA provides no "service"

other than to harass, demean, and 'train' the citizenry to accept such demoralization 'for their own "good" ' :eyes:

Most people "know" what's going on .... I went to a wedding in Atlanta this past weekend. I drove from metro-Chicago to Atlanta b/c I didn't want to go through the time/expense/degradation of flying there (even though my 'married-to-a-CEO' relative thought I was being "silly") .....

I was pleasantly surprised that MANY of the relatives of the "other" family drove from New England to Atlanta b/c of THE VERY SAME REASONS that *I* did. They had an even longer drive than I did.

People 'know' what's going on.....they're not "accepting" it. They're *quietly* disagreeing/not complying/not buying into the program - no matter how much inconvenience that's available to us that we're not taking 'advantage' of.....b/c MANY of us quietly WON'T sacrifice our rights for the sake of ease/convenience.

M_Y_H


edit: clarity

[hlthe2b]

6. I think we ought to all fly wearing "please don't shoot me"

t-shirts and carrying little white flags of surrender--walk up to all gates and security checks with our hands high in the air... Reply to any harsh questioning by breaking out in tears....Total submission is what they want? Well, give it to them and let them feel the embarrassment.

[terisan]

12. Chuckle...I am sure you would be arrested for violating some disruption statute. nt

[terisan]

14. On 2nd thought (enterpreneurial) how about selling airport medical alert badges stating that if

you don't obey orders fast enough or are distraught it may be due to your medical condition and that you need to be taken to a hospital instead of being tacked and tasered.

[Kelly Rupert]

7. That's great. Next time, please think of the people you're yelling at.

Airline employees are just as hassled as you are. They're working irregular shifts for low wages and few benefits, and they deal all day with rude, angry people. They have to deal with the same delays and inconveniences you do, only for them that shit occurs every day and not just on occasion.

It is not the gate agent's fault that some dipshit in Washington thought that bottled water was a threat to the Constitution. It is not the flight attendant's fault that your plane was delayed. It is not the fault of airline employees that purchasing a ticket turns 1% of the population into spoiled children who throw public fits.

[terisan]

10. Actually I think the sh_t (as you say) is occuring for more and more of us every day

in more and more spheres of our lives.

I think that if the airline employees are as hassled as you say (and I believe you) it is time for them to open the windows and shout "I'm mad as hell and I'm not taking it any more".

As for the poor pay-I believe you......but what is the pay of the CEOs and upper echelon execs?

The airlines are in business to make money but they obviously have decided they don't want my business because they don't don't want to provide a minimum level of service I want.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

8. Let us not forget...

Workplace shootings started with the Reagan administration and his union busting of the air traffic controllers, and general screwing of the middle class, stressing people out and making impossible demands.

"Going postal" didn't exist before the Reagan administration. More than one supervisor has been killed because of his catch-22 impossible to follow regulations and rules.

[AX10]

11. Reagan ruined this country. Bush is just finishing the job...

that beast"man" Reagan started.

[backscatter712]

9. I'm surprised I don't see the police apologists in this thread

They aren't coming in and saying they have the right to "maintain order" if a "suspect" appears "agitated" or is behaving in a "provocative" manner?

You guys are slacking!

[Robb]

19. I doubt very much it surprises you at all

Lately on DU, any support of police whatsoever is countered with nazi imagery and broad-brush attacks.

Frankly it all reminds me of conversations with the guys at the bar who don't have driver's licenses any more. Perhaps, as they suggest, life would be better without police. :eyes:

[Jed Dilligan]

23. If it's working to shut up the cop-loving clowns here on DU,

hooray!

[AX10]

13. I agree. Law Enforcement is moving towards becoming...

the gestapo of Facsist Italy.

[AuntPatsy]

15. No problem here I agree wholeheartedly.

[neweurope]

16. I'll never fly again. I REFUSE to pay a lot of money just

to be treated like a criminal. It's not quite as bad in Europe yet but pretty much so (on demand of the USA). I won't fly again. I'd rather WALK or SWIM before I take my belt and my boots off, have somebody's paws all over me, show everybody around the content of my washbag... Never again.

I realize that distance in the US is a problem. But me?
FUCK THEM. I WON'T FLY AGAIN.

--------------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[backscatter712]

17. I won't fly voluntarily either.

Last trip I took, to Vegas for DEF CON, we road-tripped. The scenery through Utah, Arizona and Nevada is spectacular to drive through - you don't see much of it from an aircraft.

[Pavulon]

22. I never saw people doing this in Europe

I am sure it happens, but the whole physical fit and cursing and screaming did not seem common in my travels there.

[neweurope]

25. No, fits aren't very common, because the people that

search you are much more polite than in the US after all I've read.

If the people who searched me when I flew to Ireland last year had not been VERY polite I would not have flown. Still it was a humiliating experience for me and I don't care to repeat it. And I certainly won't fly to the USA.

-----------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Annces]

20. I agree

It probably has something to do with our general decline in freedoms because of fascists in government.

[Pavulon]

21. I do, I have a problem with that!

Why you ask. For almost 3 years I spent around 200 nights a year in hotels. Took dozens of international flights and countless domestic flights.

Yes, you do have a RIGHT to be angry, you have a right to loose your temper and call a ticket agent a "stupid fucking cunt" (heard that one in dallas). Embarrassed me, and I am hard to embarrass. You can not throw a PHYSICAL fit, can not threaten an agent, can't RUSH the jetway. You can get arrested for doing these ACTIONS.

YOu must not fly often, a little pissed off is the norm. Assholery is accepted. It takes an effort to be arrested.

[LoZoccolo]

24. "...why do cops have to act like the fucking Gestapo..."

I think it's just because they can. They think can do whatever they want to you, and if they don't like how you react to them even just a tiny bit, they think they don't have to put up with it.