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Depending on who you ask, the TSA doesn’t have a great reputation. Sure plenty of people say they’re doing a good job. But then you hear comments about “security theater” or see headlines about TSA officers being caught stealing.

Probably the complaint you hear most about the TSA is the behavior of TSA officers (TSAOs). You’ll hear (or maybe have used) adjectives such as “rude,” “mean” or “impatient.” Or maybe some adjectives that include more adult language. 😉

When TSAOs got vast pay increases in 2023, we all hoped that would lead to an era of a kinder, gentler TSA. But as anyone who works will tell you, higher pay can help bring more happiness to a job, but it’s not the be-all, end-all, either.

The proof in the pudding is if you use a search engine for the words TSA and RUDE, you still get plenty of hits from just the past few months. In other words, rude TSAOs are still an issue.

One of the most interesting of those hits came in the form of a question on Reddit just about a month ago. Redditor SunshineAllDayLong asked:

Why are TSA Agents So Rude?

The interesting thing is that, along with “regular” people replying, several people who identified as TSAOs responded (granted, a person can say they’re anyone on Reddit; it’s relatively anonymous. But based on their responses, I tend to think they may actually be TSAOs). Here were some of their replies:

• When I am on shift I try to be nice and friendly but when you are constantly berated and yelled at everyday for doing your job and existing by passengers it is really hard. — Bafflebum
• Me at DO at 23 after the hour “Please take off your shoes and jackets, pull out your laptop and iPad, put your electronics in there own bin”
  Me at PSO 2 minutes later “Sir I see you left your laptop in your backpack”
  Passenger “no one ever told me to take it out”
  All day every day. — ablazed24
• Probably because they spend the majority of their day being berated by entitled passengers for trying to do their job and trying to keep the airways secure and safe.
  I would explain the way we are trained to handle passenger interactions, but that information is SSI. — WindlessBoi
• Some can be nicer, but it’s from the customers who say it. I have been told that I am too funny and it’s disrespectful to be funny. Other times it’s the people you work with that ruin your work day. — Oberusiberon
• I’m gonna give you an example of something that we deal with, this is an actual conversation from a few weeks ago, working precheck lane. Please explain to me how we are gonna fix this?
  Me, “sir, don’t take out your laptop, just drop your bag and go”
  Him, “I’m just doing what the sign says to do”
  “What sign?”
  “The one over there” as he points
  “Are you sure?”
  “Yes”
  “Show me”
  He goes over and reads the sign that says, no need to remove computer from bag, remove shoes, etc
  “Oh, guess I haven’t had enough coffee yet” — Catchyusername1234
• Just depends on how the day is and who the person is. I try my best to be professional and semi funny even though most the ppl don’t laugh. But just like any job. One person can f**k up your whole day. You can try not to think about it and move on but it just sticks with ya. Then you get the people that don’t listen to anything you have to say when you’re telling them to take things off. Then get mad because they left something in their bags. Like I’m sorry you legit have to pay attention. They’re hundreds of thousands of people here. We have machines going, things beeping, alarms going off. So it’s gonna be noise which is why we have to “scream” so people in the back can here the instructions. You may think I’m talking to YOU in front of me but I’m actively talking to the other 10 people behind you. — Database_Square
• This last one is long, but I think it explains a lot:
  Short Answer: Because of the passengers’ continued willful ignorance to basic life skills when at the airport as well as lack of support from management within.
  More Details:
  -Passengers don’t listen and can’t read
  -Passengers don’t do any relevant research before coming through security
  -Passengers don’t know why TSA is here, even though it’s been over two decades and the majority of the rules have been around for over 17 years
  -They complain when we simplify things for them or tell them they don’t have to do something
  -They don’t know how to control their kids
  -Support from management doesn’t exist within TSA unless you’re friends and/or “more” with the upper management
  -Officers are belittled and treated disrespectfully by passengers, even when being nice and trying our hardest to make the passengers’ lives easier
  -Officers have ZERO incentive to try harder or be nicer because the people who take initiative are ignored, and the ones who are lazy/never work are rewarded or they aren’t corrected. They often move up in the agency due to who they know or sleep with
  -TSA mandates Officers to work on their assigned days off, regardless of circumstances
  -Per TSA, Officers do not have a personal life.
  I could go on for hours with this, but know that all of these examples apply to more than half the people going through security on a daily basis, not all. We do have some people who listen and try, more often than not, it’s elderly passengers and children. But we have way too many entitled, ignorant passengers.
  I won’t lie, I have seen numerous officers go from “Day 1”: excited, taking initiative, hopeful, smiling, nice, etc. to not caring anymore and doing the bare minimum to get by. Also, please know this, it’s very rare for an officer to just be a genuine @$$h0le. Yes, some exist, but most that I’ve worked with share the same respect that is given. When Officers repeat themselves multiple times and a passenger asks them something they literally just told the passenger multiple times, don’t be surprised when the officer ignores them or raises their tone. Sometimes people don’t listen or get it into you raise your tone. You may not like it, but with who we deal with on a daily basis, it happens too often where people just don’t get it.

Of course, some of the responses from “regular” people offered some insight, too:

• I’ve found that 90% of the TSA agents I’ve talked to have been pretty nice, a few were ducks. But that’s people… some people are just tired/having a bad day/crappy. — bacon_bunny33
• Almost like any customer service job? — ihaveabigmouth
• It’s a customer facing job and it’s very taxing I imagine. I’m not tsa but I sympathize with them because I deal with thousands of tourists day in/day out and I’ve had to coach and even reassign the nicest of employees because they couldn’t handle the nastiness thrown at them daily. People can be cruel and you can’t expect people to keep a smile on their face when constantly being berated by the general public for doing their job. I’ve even had some tourists so nasty to me that I simply told them to vacate the premises, I’m sure if tsa could do that they would and you OP seem not see tsa as actual people. — dazedmazed
• I’ve learned TSA agents match the energy of passengers. I would probably say 75% of passengers are rude, entitled, or confused about the security process. Americans as a whole are just entitled and narcissistic. Majority of the security standards have been the same for over 20 years now, so it’s probably a little frustrating for a TSA agent to have to remind a passenger to remove their keys from their pocket. I’ve rarely, if ever, have had issues with a TSA agent. A simple “hi”, “how are you”, “thank you”, and some patience for the fact that they have to deal with stressed out customers, goes a long way with them. — liaoming
• While it’s nice to have pleasant TSA agents, I prefer them to do their job!!! I prefer not to have some numb nuts bring a loaded firearm in their carry-on. Or any other crap that shouldn’t be there!! Plus how hard is it to not bring liquids through the checkpoint??? 20 years we have been doing this!! It’s not hard! If people would just do what is required security lines wouldn’t be so hard. — Top_Text6864
• TSA has been reasonably chill in my experience. Maybe you’re the A-hole? — Rode06a
• I’ve fly a lot and TSA is only doing their job. Never not once had a bad experience. It’s loud in the area, them barking is so everyone can hear what do when they are next line. They need to be loud so they can be heard.
  For the most part, I say is the jacka** passengers who act like they have never flown before (and maybe some haven’t), the passengers with the rules don’t apply to me attitude, and the passengers who want to argue because they want to argue. — Low-Impressionable3367
• I work at a sports bar. On a busy night, at the start of my shift I’m very pleasant. At the end of the night after I’ve been shoved, screamed at, threatened, had to throw out multiple drunks, been called a fascist and then someone comes up to me and gets mad because I don’t have a smile on my face I’m a little less pleasant — Objective-throwaway

Our takeaway

Although being a TSAO is all about safety, there’s still a customer service component. We’d all hope that many flyers know what to do when they get to the TSA checkpoint, and do it. But TSAOs are also dealing with a certain amount of people who don’t, won’t, or can’t follow directions, for whatever their reasons. Yet they have to follow those directions in order to get past the security checkpoint. Just like any other customer service position, there’s a chance that’s eventually going to cause conflict on either side, if not both.

On top of this there’s the misconception that “being to the point” is the same as being “rude.” It’s not. And having to communicate to the next dozen people on line, and yelling your instructions so they can all hear you, doesn’t make you rude either.

Of course, there are some TSAOs who are A-holes. After all, there are A-holes all over, and some of them are going to grow up to become TSAOs. But on the same hand, every action has a reaction; if you’re going to be an A-hole (because you didn’t prepare, didn’t follow directions, etc. and then start copping an attitude to the TSAO who’s telling you what you need to do), you might not have an encounter that’s all sweetness and light. Especially towards the end of their shift, when they’ve been yelled at by A-holes all day.

There are some negative parts of being a TSAO that have nothing to do with the public. Cronyism, lack of support, being mandated to work, etc., will all affect someone’s outward demeanor. Passengers can’t help that. But being an A-hole to a TSAO who’s already plagued by those behind-the-scenes pressures certainly won’t help make them be any more pleasant. You reap what you sow and courtesy is a 2-way street.

Several people mentioned that the “problems” with TSAOs tend to happen more in the “regular” line than the PreCheck line. That would make sense. People in PreCheck probably fly more often so they’re more prepared. That means fewer negative encounters. But there’s nothing stopping someone in the “regular” line from learning what’s required of them before they get on the queue. And, of course, to not cop an attitude if they’re told, for the third time, to empty their pockets.

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