Susan Asked, Is TSA Effective or Waste of Time?

Gadget

Susan Asked, Is TSA Effective or Waste of Time?

I have always thought the billion (with a B) dollar takeover of airport security and the horribly inefficient process resulting in long lines, wasted time, missed flights, high anxiety...... of passengers is a waste of time and a horrible misuse of taxpayer dollars.

What about the guns etc that have been found? Not every gun the TSA finds is necessarily a gun the previous system would have missed and not every gun found would have been used in a crime. But if the TSA prevents just one terrorist act isn't it worth the expense and inconvenience? Again, this thought assumes the previous system would not have prevented it, and no I do not think it is worth it! What? Why? Of the over 70,000 US flights per day http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/roadwarriorvoices/2016/04/27/us-flight-activity/83572030/ 30,000 are commercial. At 100 passengers per plane on average, that is 3,000,000 passengers. If there was a terrorist act EVERY DAY that resulted in 3,000 deaths, the odds of dying in an airline terrorist act would be 1 in 1,000. Compared to your chance of dying in an automobile accident at 1 in 113 http://www.nsc.org/learn/safety-knowledge/Pages/injury-facts-chart.aspx - it would still be much safer to fly than drive.

All that being said, I do not dwell on it, or get upset at an airport. I get there early, realize there is nothing I can do about it, relax, and wait my turn in line. No stress, no fuss, no muss (whatever muss is). I am never in a hurry in an airport (unless my connection time is shortened by a late arrival), go find my gate, verify it is still my gate, and wonder around chuckling to myself as I watch other people with very serious looks on their faces rushing here and there. I am rich in time and use it to my advantage.