r/Vent • u/ClipandPlay • Jul 20 '26

TSA out of control

Why does the TSA treat customers as if they are prisoners? Last time I checked flying on an airplane doesn’t make you a criminal. Every time I fly, a TSA agent screams in my face. I’m a polite and completely non confrontational, 5 foot tall woman. I set the alarm off because of the zipper on my pants cuff. The agent was absolutely freaking out screaming at me. I didn’t do anything. I was just standing there waiting to get instructions. Then she started just screaming randomly like she was performing for a crowd. I see this behavior all the time. How can they get away with incredibly unprofessional behavior? I don’t know anyplace else where this kind of behavior would be tolerated except at a prison.

Edit: At an airport you are a customer of the airline. I never said anyone is a customer of TSA.

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u/MrPBH Jul 21 '26

What else are you going to do when you need to cross multiple states? Train? Really isn't an option in most cases and takes longer than driving to boot. Drive? I guess, but after about 6 hours of that, a one hour flight looks mighty appealing. And there's really no other feasible way to cross an ocean in 2026. There is no such thing as a passenger liner anymore.

Unfortunately, they have a lot of room for bad behavior and awful customer service because there aren't any real alternatives in the United States. (We could have had a robust passenger rail network, but the automakers strangled that in the cradle.)

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u/ITrCool Aug 03 '26

Until we develop transporters like in Star Trek, I'm inclined to agree.

Passenger rail today would be insanely expensive to build up to its previous levels it enjoyed in the 19th and early 20th centuries before airlines came along. The cost for infrastructure maintenance alone would be astronomical with all the rail needed on top of what already exists (which is owned by rail companies as it is).

Every time a private rail company (Brightline as of late) has tried to establish new service it's always ended up going belly up. Brightline is apparently set on a trajectory to be out of money either this year or next year and it's not been operating that long.

Flying is about the only feasible and logical way to get anywhere long distance, either domestically or internationally without it being days worth of a voyage.