O O Ø O O O O
Authority Figures
If we’re in the wrong line, just tell us where we need to go. When we ask a simple question, there’s no need to tell us what your authority is, why we should be scared of you, and what you can do if we don’t blindly follow your instructions. In the time it’s taken for you to deliver your intimidating sermon, you could’ve answered the question and we’d be on our way.
For some reason, we pay for the privilege of being herded like cattle. When we hit the wrong gate, you’re there with the cattle prod or branding iron. Because you deal with thousands of our type every day, you stop thinking of us as individuals, and instead treat us like objects to be routed from point A to point B. Trouble is, it’s not a conveyer, we’re not inanimate objects, and sometimes the directions you enforce aren’t terribly clear. Whatever happened to a gentle push in the right direction?
It has nothing to do with security. It has everything to do with how irritated with your job you are combined with the self-absorbed need to prove that what you do is important to others. You’ve figured out how easy it is to punish us for asking a question when the power wielded is never questioned and it’s assumed you’re in the right. There’s no accountability, so you take advantage and threaten and intimidate instead of reason and assist.
Well met.
The overwhelming majority of us are just like you. We’re trying to get to the end of the day via the path of leats resistence, and happen to be running into you because, well, you’re there. We’re not looking to make your life more difficult, in fact we’d be happier if we didn’t have to deal with you at all.
We’re tired, we’ve endured line after line after line before we even get to you, and all we really want to do is get to the end of the process. You know how to get there - we don’t - and all you can do is punish us for not knowing the process you practice every day. It’s galling, and it’s unfair.
Try using some common sense and a smile. Threatening us only gets our backs up, which leads to ugliness all around. That’s our nature, and it shouldn’t surprise you when someone gets upset after you threaten them with a rubber glove, incarceration, or a ticket home. Try taking 5 seconds to explain what the process is and why to us. It’s probably easier, and we might actually thank you instead of loathe you.
But then, going that route probably wouldn’t pick up your drooping self-esteem, so we’re all fucked.
Thanks for helping us realise how little you care about us - which is suposedly why you’re there - and that it’s more about dictating how we should act. At least you’ll feel like you’re making a difference in the fight against trrism and illegal immigrants (who’d probably do your work a thousand times better) while we just feel like shit. It makes our hearts bleed.
P.S. - Yes, I’m travelling. How could you tell?
Kev Needham
May 23, 2006
OOØOOOODCCLVII
May 24th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Can we surmise your issues were with American Airport Insecurity?
May 25th, 2006 at 5:51 am
Nope. The US airports I frequent seem to have it (mostly) down. They’re also pretty good at answering questions, but I’ve seen a few trips there, no doubt.
This was Heathrow, and while it didn’t happen to me directly, in the 90 minutes I was in the line the three people charged with keeping the queue moving berated, accosted, and/or threatened one large group who didn’t understand the “groups” queue, and at least four individuals who were just trying to get a little information.
They reminded me a lot of the CATSA staff at Pearson, for which there is a common thread. I’ll leave it at that, but if you’ve been to Pearson you may be able to figure it out :)