Was it rude of me to assume that all TSA agents were baby eating, power tripping assholes who were put on earth to make your life miserable? Whoops! Turns out they're not all like that. In fact, some of them can even be extremely helpful and go beyond the call of duty to make your life easier. WHAT!?
Here's the story: A woman named Alanna was dropping off her rental car at Syracuse Hancock International Airport after hours so she had to place the car keys inside the return box (it was 4:30 AM). Right as she did that, she realized she left her cell phone in the now returned (and locked) car. What was she going to do?! She decided to take her chances and waved down the soon to be extremely helpful TSA agent and explained her situation. The TSA agent heard her story and handled the rest. Alanna explains:
[The TSA agent] gave me her name and phone number and told me she would find the Avis representative when they got in (business hours started at 6:30, my flight took off at 7) to see if she could get my phone. She wanted to make sure I caught my flight so she told me to go through security and informed the manager at JetBlue's counter and the officers on duty at security about the situation. She also told me that if she was not able to get my phone to me before my flight, she would personally call my husband and tell him how I could contact Avis to get the phone back.
At 5:45, the super excellent TSA officer walked up to Alanna's gate and returned the cell phone to her. Cell phone in hand, Alanna was able to make her flight without a hitch.
Can we please get more TSA officers like that? [Consumerist, Image Credit: TSA]