At the Airport, you better smile....or......

[natty bumppo 297]

TEXT FROM NEWSWEEK- Aug. 16, 2007 - It was bound to happen. Now even a frown or grimace can get you into trouble with The Man.“Specially trained security personnel” will be watching passengers for “micro-expressions” that will reveal treacherous agendas and insidious intentions at airports around the country. These agents, who may literally hold your fate in their hands have been given a lofty, Orwellian name: "Behavior Detection Officers."

The face police, in place at more than a dozen U.S. airports already, aren’t identified as such. But the watcher could be at curbside baggage, the ticket counter or near the metal detectors and X-ray machines. The Transportation Security Administration hopes to have as many as 500 Behavior Detection Officers on the job by the end of 2008.

But what about the woman who is getting on a plane to see a dying relative? Or the man who is traveling to another state to see a cancer specialist in a last bid for extending his life? What about the guy who just had a fight with his spouse and now worries that a plane crash would mean their last words were in anger? We’ve all had the experience of having a bad day, being in a rotten mood—especially at the airport, which has become a modern-day chamber or horrors. On those days, doesn’t it seem like everyone we meet looks sour and unpleasant? The opposite is also true. When we’re happy and joyful, we look at others and see happiness in them. Or even if we don’t, we look at them kindly and with compassion. It’s human nature to look at others through the lens of our own reality.

Here’s where it gets really absurd. Apparently, these Behavior Detection Officers work in pairs. One scenario is that an officer might move in to “help” a passenger retrieve their belongings after they’ve been screened. And then the officer will ask where the passenger is headed. If the passenger’s reaction sets off alarm bells in the officer’s well-trained mind, another officer will move in and detain them. Let’s be really clear here. If a stranger moved in on me like that, I’d tell that person to go to hell, throw in a few other expletives for good measure and probably give them the finger as I stomped off. Of course, I wouldn’t be stomping very far.

So while TSA employees are confiscating our scissors and water bottles, they’re going to secretly be staring at us, looking for some telltale sign of terrorist intent in a grimace, a sigh, a crinkled nose? Who knows what? In the end, the Behavior Detection Officers are the ones who are really acting suspicious. Which is the truth of the matter anyway. """

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20298840/site/newsweek/

[no name 1]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=83633

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

My Paki employee tells me that it doesn't matter how cheerful he is, he always gets picked out of the crowd for extra screens and scrutiny.

[Mephys 2]

Well, as a young woman travelling alone, I would personnally not feel safe to tell where I am travelling.....well yeah unless the officer is wearing an evident TSA jacket or something, but I would probably be less than likely to give any informations....

[MissStacey 1]

I would assume the opposite- usually the people who walk around smiling non stop are the weirdo's.

[Tinker 0]

yep, I'm a weirdo and I ALWAYS get pulled in for screening. When they were screening at the boarding gates, I always got it there. Once okay, but your just on a layover and getting on the next plane...

[JJWashington 0]

agreed