So Sick Of This Shit
For the past couple of years I have been unable to do automated kiosk check-ins at the airport. I've only been flying American (by coincidence), and I figured maybe it was just an issue with them.
Not so. This morning I found out that I particularly cannot check in online for a Southwest flight. I was on the phone with smallerdemon who did the same thing at the same time for the same flight with no hitches whatsoever. I got a message that I could not check in online due to some vaguely worded thing about Southwest policies, rules and procedures, and that I had to go to a counter agent.
When I'm checking in with an agent, I typically ask them if there's an issue or if there's something I could do differently to avoid this. I've never gotten an answer. The only clue I've ever gotten is that once when I handed my "you cannot check in at the kiosk" slip to the counter agent, he muttered something about "every common name in the world." Now I have a very common sort of name, but surely, surely there's got to be more to it than that. I've asked my father, who has the same very common name, and he doesn't have this issue. On the other hand, I've never done a goddamned thing to anyone, ever. Besides which, if I'm some huge security risk, how is it that seeing me in the flesh resolves it and gets me a boarding pass? Zero added security is conferred by this process. The boarding pass I receive has never tagged me for extra screening. It's just a huge pain in the ass for me to get to that point.
The pointedly unresponsive attitude I get when I ask about this has the cumulative effect of telling me that they are not allowed to tell me why this happens. It goes without saying that because the issue, whatever it is, is not made explicit, there is absolutely no chance for an appeals process. To whom would I appeal, and on what basis? Nobody's made any specific claim I could respond to. I appear to be singled out for a reason that cannot even conceivably be legitimate, but I am not even permitted the information that would allow me to evaluate its legitimacy. People toss around that "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" bullshit, but this makes me feel like I have something to hide that even I don't know about. I'm forced to examine my life and try to figure out what the hell could have possibly triggered this. Is it because I object to the retarded man-monkey ostensibly running the show? Should I avoid publicly writing things like "retarded man-monkey"? This is exactly what's meant by "chilling effect" only I have no solid idea what it's supposed to chill; just a generalized uncertainty. I'm not exactly the up-sticking nail that needs to be hammered down. I'm pretty damned flush already.
This shit needs to end, period. Nobody is safer as a result of this, and frankly I'd like to live in America again, please.
Not so. This morning I found out that I particularly cannot check in online for a Southwest flight. I was on the phone with smallerdemon who did the same thing at the same time for the same flight with no hitches whatsoever. I got a message that I could not check in online due to some vaguely worded thing about Southwest policies, rules and procedures, and that I had to go to a counter agent.
When I'm checking in with an agent, I typically ask them if there's an issue or if there's something I could do differently to avoid this. I've never gotten an answer. The only clue I've ever gotten is that once when I handed my "you cannot check in at the kiosk" slip to the counter agent, he muttered something about "every common name in the world." Now I have a very common sort of name, but surely, surely there's got to be more to it than that. I've asked my father, who has the same very common name, and he doesn't have this issue. On the other hand, I've never done a goddamned thing to anyone, ever. Besides which, if I'm some huge security risk, how is it that seeing me in the flesh resolves it and gets me a boarding pass? Zero added security is conferred by this process. The boarding pass I receive has never tagged me for extra screening. It's just a huge pain in the ass for me to get to that point.
The pointedly unresponsive attitude I get when I ask about this has the cumulative effect of telling me that they are not allowed to tell me why this happens. It goes without saying that because the issue, whatever it is, is not made explicit, there is absolutely no chance for an appeals process. To whom would I appeal, and on what basis? Nobody's made any specific claim I could respond to. I appear to be singled out for a reason that cannot even conceivably be legitimate, but I am not even permitted the information that would allow me to evaluate its legitimacy. People toss around that "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" bullshit, but this makes me feel like I have something to hide that even I don't know about. I'm forced to examine my life and try to figure out what the hell could have possibly triggered this. Is it because I object to the retarded man-monkey ostensibly running the show? Should I avoid publicly writing things like "retarded man-monkey"? This is exactly what's meant by "chilling effect" only I have no solid idea what it's supposed to chill; just a generalized uncertainty. I'm not exactly the up-sticking nail that needs to be hammered down. I'm pretty damned flush already.
This shit needs to end, period. Nobody is safer as a result of this, and frankly I'd like to live in America again, please.