TSA agent questioned if license from nation’s capital was valid for flight. - Polidicks

[QUOTE]According to Brandt, an agent with the Transportation Security Administration took a look at her D.C. license and began to shake her head. “I don’t know if we can accept these,” Brandt recalled the agent saying. “Do you have a U.S. passport?’ But the implication from the TSA agent seemed clear to Brandt: The District is not a state; TSA requires a state-issued ID to board a plane. Brandt says the agent yelled out to a supervisor, working in adjacent security line. Are D.C. licenses valid identification? Brandt says she could hear the response, “Yeah, we accept those.” Source: [url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-resident-tsa-agent-questions-if-dc-license-legal-for-airline-flight-boarding/2014/02/26/b0855538-9e77-11e3-9ba6-800d1192d08b_story.html[/url][/QUOTE] That's pretty hilarious.. and sad at the same time.

It's amazing what idiots they hire for the TSA.

[QUOTE=Falubii;44058748]It's amazing what idiots they hire for the TSA.[/QUOTE] Here's the first comment on the article: [QUOTE]Same thing happened to me at SFO, of all places. The young TSA officer wanted to see my passport because she thought my District of Columbia driver's license somehow was from the nation of Colombia. When I explained to her that I lived in Washington, DC and asked her what the capital of the U-S might be - and where the White House was - she gave me a puzzled look. When I told her it was in Washington DC and I lived in the same city where the White House and the Capitol building are located, it seemed like a light when on in her head. She called for a supervisor, and then said, "so, you're from the state of Washington?" The supervisor showed up a minute later and let me through. Academy award winning security theater.[/QUOTE]

American expat here. They don't exactly teach geography in the united states.

I'd hate to know what they think of Puerto Rico.

[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;44060022]American expat here. They don't exactly teach geography in the united states.[/QUOTE] Yes they do. It's part of the curriculum. I literally had to memorize the 50 states and their capitals in 4th grade. Even if it's not part of some standard curriculum, most school's will at some point mention the capital of the country.

I remember seeing a lot of security positions available through the state employment office a few years back. I only went to the office once because it was filled with thugs and miscreants. I felt like I was going to be mugged. So, yeah... the bar isn't set too high to become a TSA security agent. And the pool of people they hire from don't seem like what you would actually want for anything important. But that's just me judging from appearances. I'm sure their applications were full of glorious accounts of their merits.

The TSA never fails to leave me amazed. Space Station 13 security officers are legitimately more competent.

[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;44060022]American expat here. They don't exactly teach geography in the united states.[/QUOTE] The fuck you talking about? I had geography once in elementary school, once in middle school and once in high school. Then I took it again in college for shits and giggles.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;44060303]The fuck you talking about? I had geography once in elementary school, once in middle school and once in high school. Then I took it again in college for shits and giggles.[/QUOTE] The problem is that a lot of people don't bother paying attention.

[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;44060022]American expat here. They don't exactly teach geography in the united states.[/QUOTE] you don't need to take geography to know that the fucking capital city of our country is washington dc lmao i can't even imagine how sheltered a person must be to not know what dc is

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;44060332]The problem is that a lot of people don't bother paying attention.[/QUOTE] That's kid's dumb fault and their parents for not pushing them to learn.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;44060303]The fuck you talking about? I had geography once in elementary school, once in middle school and once in high school. Then I took it again in college for shits and giggles.[/QUOTE] It's placed in correlation with history and not much emphasis is placed on where the events happened, more of who did it and when it happened.

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;44060332]The problem is that a lot of people don't bother paying attention.[/QUOTE] Just because they don't pay attention doesn't mean they don't teach it.

[QUOTE=BrickInHead;44060373]you don't need to take geography to know that the fucking capital city of our country is washington dc lmao i can't even imagine how sheltered a person must be to not know what dc is[/QUOTE] By the sound of it in this case it just seems like the agent was unclear if a federal district ID would count for something that's supposed to require a state ID since they are technically different. This is hardly the only area where people living in the non-state territories of the US run into difficulties because of it.

I did not have to learn any US geography in school.

[QUOTE=Cakebatyr;44060092]I'd hate to know what they think of Puerto Rico.[/QUOTE] PR is a US Protectorate, not a state. In order to travel from PR to the US or vice versa, it's like going to any other foreign nation, you must go through customs.