THE TSA EXPERIENCE -- MY HORROR STORY AT JFK AIRPORT WITH TSA CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATIONS AUTHORITIES

I arrived today (December 9th) from Germany at Terminal 1 in JFK Airport. Flight was great and had a good time... till it was time to clear Customs and Immigrations.

The line I was assigned was moving too slow; actually not moving at all. I jumped to another line, which happens to be a young TSA's agent: Mr. Rowdings line. When I approached him, this is the conversation that ensured:

Me: "Good evening!"
Rowdings: "You jumped from that line to this one!"
Me: "So? If there is a problem with that, give me my passport and I will go back."
Rowdings: "You don't need to have an attitude!"
Me: "Well, you don't need to ask."
Rowdings: "It is my job to ask!"
Me: "Oh... new job responsibilities; also taking care of lines?"

With that, I sealed my fate... He made the mark that I would have to go through the secondary TSA check with my luggage. So, I went through the secondary check. However, that was a different story.

But I need to digress for a moment...

There was a woman who came in with her 4 dalmatian dogs; one older and 3 puppies. She was sobbing crying in the secondary security line next to the one I was. I've traveled with my dog internationally so I know how stressful it is. I don't know the details of the situation or what was happening with this woman, but it could have been something wrong with the veterinarian's paperwork or vaccinations. She was quite hysterical and the TSA agent taking care of her 'case' was not helpful at all. He only needed to be sympathetic to her; that's all. The only thing he needed to do was, at least, be nice to her. At one point she was trying to make a phone call and the TSA Agent got two inches away from her face and started to scream: "There is no cell phone usage in this area!" And he kept screaming at her! I was getting very upset watching this happening in front of me. I wanted to jump in an defend the woman but did not want to get in any more trouble than I already was.

Back to my story... I got to my secondary check and the guy could not be any nicer. We started talking and I did not have anything in my suitcase to be checked except the usual German coffee I bring every time I come back from Europe and my dirty underwear.

The conversation turned interesting when he asked me what I do for a living. I told him: "I am a flight attendant." Then I proceeded to tell him what happened to me earlier and that I wanted to file a complaint with TSA. He told me what to do (go to tsa.gov and click on the feedback icon). He let me go right away with no problems.

And you might ask yourselves... why did you confront the TSA agent to start with?

Here is my take... I've flown all over the world and solely internationally for over 9 years. I've seen the best and the worst of TSA agents... Sadly, the worst is the normality more than the exception. . is a shame that these TSA agents have to be such big a**holes!

What bothers me the most is that this is the first point of contact for most tourists and visitors to the USA. And this is the way these TSA Agents behave? Is this the image we want to create that we behave in our Country? What's up with the attitude?

From my experiences, the worst airports for entry into the USA: New York's JFK and Washington DC (Dulles). The best airports: Denver (all the time) and Chicago (only in a good day). I wonder what kind of Customer Service training they receive. I do know that they are there primarily for safety but there is no need for their nasty behavior.

By the way, if you are wondering, the TSA Agent did not let the dogs go. The TSA Agent was doing the paperwork to hold the doggies back; quarantine or who knows... And the doggies kept crying and barking for mama! It was so sad to watch and see the lady crying and going between the dogs in the cages and back to the nasty, power-driven, a**hole TSA Agent. At one point I had to turned the other way because it was just too much to bear! For those of us who are doggy/pet lovers, this was a horrific scene to witness!

As we call it in the industry: "TSA is going on a Power Trip!"

And why do they do it? Because they can screw up your day if they want to!

I can go on and on with other examples I've witnessed and be a victim of, but won't bore you with any more details. Ok... a couple of quick ones: they held one internationally based flight attendant for 4 hours because one crew member made a comment about how slow the line was moving and a passenger held because he did forget he had a fruit (banana) in his carry-on.

I did write my letter to TSA and does hope that does not fall in deaf ears or gets lost in cyberspace. If I do get a reply, I will ensure I post it here immediately.