Last week I wrote about the new TSA full body scan and pat down policies. Without recapping the entire post, in short I opined that many of the TSA policies seem to be more theatrical in nature rather than security related. I compared security measures used in the US to Israel, which has been more successful over a longer period of time. I finished by saying the US should not rely on security measures of dubious effectiveness and instead should focus money and efforts on behavioral profiling and more intense questioning.
In spite of my concerns about security protocols in the US, I think it is a horrible idea for the traveling public to overreact to them and even worse, to stage a boycott.
National Opt-Out Day is an online gassroots effort, the mission of which is to encourage people to boycott the TSA screening efforts on Wednesday, November 24th – the busiest travel day of the year for American travelers. What an incredibly bad idea.
Let’s focus on the goal of this group. The goal is to raise awareness of the perceived problem and ideally, force the TSA to alter its policies. Now, the THREAT of a boycott accomplishes this goal alone. It’s sort of like when a trade union threatens to strike. In most cases the threat is enough to affect change. If the National Opt-Out Day group is able to convince enough people to go through with this ridiculous boycott idea, travel disaster will ensue this week.
If the boycott goes forward, they will have succeeded in increasing the security line wait times for those travelers who actually want to reach their destination, rather than the rabble rousers who are selfishly trying to make a point. If people are unable to make their flights, and this will happen if there are enough disruptions, then it will be days before they will be able to be rescheduled. We are talking about the busiest travel weekend of the year- there won’t be later flights to catch since they will most likely all be in an oversold situation. Those boycotting and those unlucky enough to be in line behind them will be screwed, to use an incredibly inartful term.
Rather than pursue this counter productive strategy of yelling and screaming (does it ever work for your kids?) I agree with the famous airline industry blogger, Steven Frischling, who has been trying to engage in a thoughtful conversation on this topic since the beginning. He is right when he says that this is not the way to affect change; all it does is attract momentary attention and potentially ruin the holiday for hundreds if not thousands of people.
Luckily, I don’t think this will actually happen. Yes, perhaps a few people will participate in the boycott, but I don’t think many outside of the group’s leadership will actually follow through. Ultimately, people are more interested in getting to their destination, especially on Thanksgiving, than aiding a disorganized so-called user group make a point and get their 15 minutes on cable news.
If the organizers really want to help their fellow traveler, they will stop this boycott nonsense and instead engage the TSA in thoughtful and well articulated conversation. Instead, I fear, the only plans they will change this week will be those of people whose holiday has been ruined thanks to the boycott.
Who am I? I am a typical Gen-Xer and recovering cubicle-dweller who has a passion for all things travel. My site brings a unique perspective that is hard to find online. I am not a backpacker, nor am I...
Great post Matt, nice to see a different view of Opt Out Day. I just wrote a post about my views of the new TSA procedures, and I came over to your site to read about your experience with security in Israel, which is how I ended up reading this post as well. I ended up linking both posts in mine b/c they were very informative. I **hate** the scanners and the pat downs, but at the end of the day, I’m not going to stop traveling b/c of these horrible screenings. I just hope enough outrage reaches the right people, and soon, so that the system can get a much needed overhaul.
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Cindy Reply:
November 23rd, 2010 at 6:11 pm
Matt, you don’t seem to grasp the seriousness
of the implications of the new invasive TSA
procedures, especially for women, elderly, and
disabled who wear personal care products under
their clothing. There is also the little matter of spreading infections like MERSA. The TSO’s wear gloves for their own protection, not the public’s. They do not change them between pat-downs. They put their contaminated gloves against the bare skin behind your collar and under your waistband. The TSA knows most people like you
will just grin and bear it, and this emboldens
them to mistreat the public at will. Any group that has the guts to protest deserves our support even if it seems futile.
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Spencer Spellman Reply:
November 23rd, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Oh no she didn’t.
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Matt,
You made some great points and am glad someone wrote this, which needed to be said. This will be the one and only place that I comment on this issue, just because I’ve written elsewhere about this “national opt out” thing, been involved in too many conversations and am just really tired of hearing about it.
However, with that said, National Opt Out Day is one of the most selfish things I’ve heard of and I’m ashamed that I would live in a country that thinks that it’s a good idea to boycott and delay travel on what is the busiest and most frustrating day of travel for both travelers and employees. TSA has heard the complaints and will continue to hear them and so it’s not necessary for a statement to be made. If this really does catch on at airports around the U.S., the people who lose out, will ultimately be the people themselves that take part. They will miss flights, they will be frustrated themselves, while frustrating others, and it will be mass chaos during a weekend that is chaotic and stressful as it is.
Don’t take this as me taking one side or the other, because I’m not. If anyone wants to know how I feel about the new TSA regulations, then you’re welcome to contact me. Thanksgiving is about something bigger than ourselves: being with family, breaking bread together, and giving thanks. If someone reading this is thinking about taking part, I hope you’ll reconsider. Think about my flight attendant sister, that security man getting paid minimum wage who is just doing what he’s told, and the family that is scrambling to make it onto that flight that is the last one of the day. These ultimately will be the ones affected if there is a large revolt on this National Opt-Out Day.
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I’m with Ali, I think it’s all ridiculous but in the end I wouldn’t want to delay the people behind me or stop traveling because of it.
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Totally agree, Matt. Our newest post is about 5 Reasons Why National Opt-Out Day Is Stupid:
http://thejetpacker.com/5-reasons-why-national-opt-out-day-is-stupid/
Opting out of a necessary security procedure on the busiest travel day of the year is opting out of being courteous and respectful to other travelers.
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“If the organizers really want to help their fellow traveler, they will stop this boycott nonsense and instead engage the TSA in thoughtful and well articulated conversation. Instead, I fear, the only plans they will change this week will be those of people whose holiday has been ruined thanks to the boycott.” … AMEN. Couldn’t have said it better. I hate the TSA policies, but this boycott is not the answer.
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I’ve got to agree with Matt, Spencer, and others on this. National Opt Out Day is a bad idea. I understand the frustration with the TSA security policies. After reading and writing about this myself, I think I would just do the scanners. There is no way I would want to subject myself or family to the pat downs.
With that said, I think it is selfish to ruin other people’s holidays on the busiest travel day of the year. Rather than confrontation with the TSA, there may be confrontations with other passengers. It’s not a good idea and I think there are better ways to handle this.
I would love to see things change with these policies. I think more exceptions need to be made and the TSA and DOT need to find a better way around this issue. Here’s hoping for a non-eventful day on Wednesday.
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And now that it’s all over with, here comes the funny part: Evidence in the form of multiple eyewitness testimony is beginning to come to light indicating that the real reason the TSA got to gleefully report that the Opt-Out Day was basically a non-event is because they took deliberate steps to ensure that it would fail. Travelers report most screeners failing to do “enhanced” pat-downs at all that day, as well as the majority of full-body scans being roped off. Such a large-scale alteration in policy can really only be the result of a calculated decision on the part of the TSA to advance their agenda. A FOIA request has been filed by at least one watchdog group in an attempt to obtain proof. If true, then it indicates one of two things: Either the measures are effective, but the TSA thought it was more important to shut us up than to protect us, or they are really no more than theater, the TSA knows this, and therefore had no qualms about shutting them down for a day in the interest of political gain.
And as far as effectiveness is concerned, even the most cursory research into the failure rates of the TSA during both official “red group” tests, and unofficial failures occurring during normal workdays, readily shows that not only does the equipment fail to provide any additional safety, but that the screeners are largely ineffectual idiots as well. One recent news item concerned a man who passed through screening unimpeded with a handgun he had neglected to remove from his baggage, while the elderly woman behind him was stopped for carrying too much liquid. While I have not yet found corroboration of that particular incident, the official red group failures are commonly known and verified.
And as far as selfishness is concerned, it seems to me that true selfishness (as well as a certain amount of cowardice) lies in tolerating repeated violations of the standards of a notionally free country just so long as you personally aren’t inconvenienced in your plans to go gorge yourself among friends and family. Perfectly legitimate priorities for sheep.
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