Friendly, thorough, but not so quick...
The not-so-quick part is 10/90...10% TSA and 90% your fellow passengers. Folks...when you are standing in a security line and you know you have to take off your shoes, belt, take things out of your pockets, etc. and take out electronics...why don't you just do it? Why wait on the TSA folks to tell you? They are doing the best they can by basically herding folks through there while thoroughly checking every bag and every person for our safety as a whole. This is not a game...help the process! For extra entertainment, two people in front of us took off their shoes just before the conveyor and then put their items on the conveyor and just walked away to go through the screening. Hello!...what about your crap? Their shoes became a tripping hazard for everyone behind them and finally got kicked out of the way. They didn't push forward their bags and personal items...what the heck? Then TSA is trying to figure out whose bags and shoes they belong to. They come back with the attitude that someone else should have taken care of it. Huh? Who?...Me?...My kid?...I don't think so! We don't touch other people's personal items. Just my opinion, but when you pull crap like this...I wish, I wish, I wish TSA would pull those folks aside and make them wait to re-enter the queue. I realize we all may forget things in the madness, but you can tell the difference between folks that forget and those that just expect someone else to do it for them. But wait, doesn't stop there...on the other side...they stood in front of the conveyor to take their do-da time putting things back in their bags while the trays are backing up...and they just stood there...why? Waiting on the dang shoes they left behind! Boo! They wouldn't move or get out of the way, not even with a polite "excuse me" to let other folks get their things, which makes you have to push through to get your belongings. UGH! A few TSA folks were overseeing things and I know they are busy watching, but a simple "move to the side" that takes a second or two could have moved things along quicker and would have been awesome to help fellow passengers. Aside from this...it's like a well-oiled machine.
A bit of advice I have for every traveler is to talk to the TSA folks. They are doing a thankless job by choice to ensure the safety of all of us. It's an important job! A simple "hello" or "how are you?" goes a long way. I agree that in some places in the USA they could definitely be friendlier and often on a power trip, but this is not one of those places, or at least not on the day we went through. The folks here were friendly and just trying to get you where you are going or need to be. read more