The TSA, more than any other organization in the American government, is a shining example of what happens when you allow a pack of unimaginative idiots to band together under a collective banner of authority; begin slinging ideas around as monkeys might sling feces, with no thought as to consequences, impact, effectiveness, or direction; and then use the fallout that results from inflicting the most dripping wet turd from the exercise upon the rest of society as a way of justifying its own relevance and worth.

This won't be a problem because I'm sure anyone with common sense will see that the name is the same minus an apostrophe.

Petit_Merdeux: This won't be a problem because I'm sure anyone with common sense will see that the name is the same minus an apostrophe.

You've never dealt with the TSA. Common sense is not something they have.

I'm kinda worried about this when I go over seas my ticket just has my first and last name on it while my passport has my middle name on it too. I can just see me getting a dick head who is being a jerk about the whole thing.

Pocket Ninja: The TSA, more than any other organization in the American government, is a shining example of what happens when you allow a pack of unimaginative idiots to band together under a collective banner of authority; begin slinging ideas around as monkeys might sling feces, with no thought as to consequences, impact, effectiveness, or direction; and then use the fallout that results from inflicting the most dripping wet turd from the exercise upon the rest of society as a way of justifying its own relevance and worth.

The fun starts when that same government starts to ration your healthcare. Coming to you in 2013.

And I suppose it's important to re-state that the TSA serves as the embodiment of poo-flinging monkeys for the American government specifically. You can, however, see a pretty good example of the citizen equivalent by coming into a politics thread and looking for the intellectual rhesuses who want to contort every criticism into a point that serves their own stupid agenda.

Petit_Merdeux: This won't be a problem because I'm sure anyone with common sense will see that the name is the samethe crux of the biscut minus an apostrophe.

Gwendolyn: I'm kinda worried about this when I go over seas my ticket just has my first and last name on it while my passport has my middle name on it too. I can just see me getting a dick head who is being a jerk about the whole thing.

Update your frequent flyer number with your correct info.
Have your travel agent notify the airline in the PNR.

With this above steps taken, the airline can reissue at the airport.
It wont be a big deal. Relax, and have a great trip.

So the Irish won't be allowed to fly. What's the problem?

JerseyTim: So the Irish won't be allowed to fly. What's the problem?

Since when have the Irish been allowed to fly?

Are you telling me I've been in enclosed spaces with Irish people???

If TSA agents weren't F- students, this wouldn't be a problem.

Bukharin: Gwendolyn: I'm kinda worried about this when I go over seas my ticket just has my first and last name on it while my passport has my middle name on it too. I can just see me getting a dick head who is being a jerk about the whole thing.

Update your frequent flyer number with your correct info.
Have your travel agent notify the airline in the PNR.

With this above steps taken, the airline can reissue at the airport.
It wont be a big deal. Relax, and have a great trip.

I bought the tickets at the airline website. I called them and they said they could put a note for the airports. I do have my middle name on the frequent flier number though. This middle name thing didn't even occur to me before hand. Apparently reissuing is a $400 fee, which the remainder takes a month to return to me by check, and then I'd have to repurchase the tickets.

Gwendolyn:

You'll be OK. Dont sweat it.

dustman81: You've never dealt with the TSA. Common sense is not something they have.

The TSA hires people who were to stupid or lazy to become mall cops. And, anyway, common sense isn't.

Seriously? It's 2009 and you can't develop ticket machines to print an apostrophe? Is it really that hard?

Accuse them of racial discrimination. That'll change pretty quick.

If any of my students who have superfluous punctuation in their names tried to fly, they'd never get it right.

Know a teacher who a had a student named "L-a". Pronounced "Ladasha" because "the dash wasn't silent." I WISH I had made that up.

/dnrtfa

Bend over for your TSA probing, O'Citizen.

Pocket Ninja: The TSA, more than any other organization in the American government, is a shining example of what happens when you allow a pack of unimaginative idiots to band together under a collective banner of authority; begin slinging ideas around as monkeys might sling feces, with no thought as to consequences, impact, effectiveness, or direction; and then use the fallout that results from inflicting the most dripping wet turd from the exercise upon the rest of society as a way of justifying its own relevance and worth.

All true, but on the other hand, Jake is right too. I mean Jesus, I can print billion-color pictures from a printer the store threw in with my PC, every crappy small business in America has at least a thermal printer and the huge honkin' airline industry is still in the all-caps and no punctuation era? WTF?

jake3988: Seriously? It's 2009 and you can't develop ticket machines to print an apostrophe? Is it really that hard?

We're talking about government, and state controlled agencies here. They only thing in the last 100 years they haven't made all FUBAR is the Interstate Highway system. Even that can be argued as being a huge mistake. It killed any chance of a passenger rail system from being a viable option, here in the states.

Odear.

Pocket Ninja: And I suppose it's important to re-state that the TSA serves as the embodiment of poo-flinging monkeys for the American government specifically. You can, however, see a pretty good example of the citizen equivalent by coming into a politics thread and looking for the intellectual rhesuses who want to contort every criticism into a point that serves their own stupid agenda.

I used to like flying.

Now, I'd rather drive from FL to CA for my industry's annual convention than have to deal with airport thuggery security.

"You Orally men?"

/hot like Connie Booth was

dustman81: Petit_Merdeux: This won't be a problem because I'm sure anyone with common sense will see that the name is the same minus an apostrophe.

You've never dealt with the TSA. Common sense is not something they have.

This cartoon seems appropriate for the comment:

The Irish just need to get over themselves and ditch the apostrophe once and for all. Assimilate to this country's values and all that. Love it or leave it.

/And enough with the boiled meat already - you know it just shows that you're British with a slightly funnier accent.

Can't we just have that barcode tattooed on our forehead and finally do away with all these terroristic letter-based names? By proudly showing your Citizen Number you are saying to the world that "These Colors Don't Run!" All Real Americans© will gladly do the patriotic thing and not cooperate with the terrorists and embrace their new National ID.

Problem Solved!

Argh...as someone with an apostrophe in my last name (O' to be exact) this pisses me off. I have the same issue with credit cards as well.

jake3988

Seriously? It's 2009 and you can't develop ticket machines to print an apostrophe? Is it really that hard?

Has nothing to do with the ticket machine. When you buy a ticket, the airlines enter your info into their database, and most databases don't accept apostrophes. Your name gets entered without one, and the ticket machine just spits out whatever is stored in the database. I think ASP.net has some way to accept them, but If my dealings with the airlines are any indication, I'd bet that most of them are still using COBOL.

And this is the time that someone points out that checking ids has nothing to do with safety or protecting the plane. Its to prevent a grey market on airline tickets.

/and has someone mentioned that the 9/11 hijackers had valid ids?

TSA employees are just welfare recipients with badges.

trifoldhat: jake3988: Seriously? It's 2009 and you can't develop ticket machines to print an apostrophe? Is it really that hard?

We're talking about government, and state controlled agencies here. They only thing in the last 100 years they haven't made all FUBAR is the Interstate Highway system. Even that can be argued as being a huge mistake. It killed any chance of a passenger rail system from being a viable option, here in the states.

The government has nothing at all to do with the ticket machines. That's on the airlines.

ElegantGoose: Know a teacher who a had a student named "L-a". Pronounced "Ladasha" because "the dash wasn't silent." I WISH I had made that up.

Although someone else made that up. It's just like the urban myth that is right along with someone naming her child "Placenta".

I've heard this before as someone named "La-ia".

BrokenToilet: TSA employees are just welfare recipients with badges.

TSA - Thousands Standing Around

As a person with a hyphenated last name, I'm getting a kick out of these replies. You wouldn't believe the number of sign-ups, CC apps, ticketing systems and on-line thingies and whatnot that don't deal with hyphens. It's gotten a lot better in the last ten years, but its still ridiculous. Hyphenated last names are uncommon but they're hardly unheard of.

They haven't fixed that one yet?
I'm pretty sure I already read about airlines (or rather: boarding passengers) having exactly that same problem not long after the 9/11-fueled anti-terror hysteria broke out.

trifoldhat: jake3988: Seriously? It's 2009 and you can't develop ticket machines to print an apostrophe? Is it really that hard?

We're talking about government, and state controlled agencies here. They only thing in the last 100 years they haven't made all FUBAR is the Interstate Highway system. Even that can be argued as being a huge mistake. It killed any chance of a passenger rail system from being a viable option, here in the states.


No, you're not talking about state-controlled agencies. You're talking about businesses that won't spend the few dollars it takes to have some programmer update their reservation and ticket counter machines.

Pocket Ninja: And I suppose it's important to re-state that the TSA serves as the embodiment of poo-flinging monkeys for the American government specifically. You can, however, see a pretty good example of the citizen equivalent by coming into a politics thread and looking for the intellectual rhesuses who want to contort every criticism into a point that serves their own stupid agenda.

There's a chance the intellectual rhesuses in question will get it but doubful.

Gwendolyn that has never once been an issue for me. My passport has my middle name, my tickets hardly ever do, and in what, 15+ trips (Europe, Africa) since 9/11 it's never once come up. Relax, don't worry

JammerJim: As a person with a hyphenated last name...

That idiocy needs to stop.

"I'm sorry Mr. O'Doole but you'll first have to go to the Apostrophe Sticker line to correct your ticket."

How would this affect Barack O'Bama?

JammerJim: As a person with a hyphenated last name, I'm getting a kick out of these replies. You wouldn't believe the number of sign-ups, CC apps, ticketing systems and on-line thingies and whatnot that don't deal with hyphens. It's gotten a lot better in the last ten years, but its still ridiculous. Hyphenated last names are uncommon but they're hardly unheard of.

What's worse for me is that I have a hyphenated last name, but I commonly only use the first one because I think its silly in non-legal situations to use both.

But, because of that, I'm so used to just using one last name, that I book tickets under the one (even though my drivers and passport has both). Fortunately, TSA hasn't been too picky about it, but I just got a letter from Southwest saying in the future I should book all tickets with my full hyphenated last name.

Bukharin: Gwendolyn:

You'll be OK. Dont sweat it.

But her middle name is "Obama".

/why is she trying to hide that?

Pocket Ninja: The TSA, more than any other organization in the American government, is a shining example of what happens when you allow a pack of unimaginative idiots to band together under a collective banner of authority; begin slinging ideas around as monkeys might sling feces, with no thought as to consequences, impact, effectiveness, or direction; and then use the fallout that results from inflicting the most dripping wet turd from the exercise upon the rest of society as a way of justifying its own relevance and worth.

Durn! I think you just described government. Let's get MORE of it!!!

FTA The problem there is that most computer systems don't recognize apostrophes

WTF, I think its time for the airline industry to upgrade their software to something made in the 1980s

/for the grammar nazis, it was intentional.

The problem with government regulations is that you've got people at the top making decisions regarding things they've got no clue about. Quite honestly, those who are making the decisions should have to do the grunt work (not just observe it) for a few weeks to get a feel for how it really goes then maybe we wouldn't get such idiotic rules.

Sh`qirra`xhinoah approves.
So does Abbi-bin`jihadd.
/yes, those are names of american citizens,
//african-american ctizens
/who hava never been to africa, and ain't giong there via air any time soon.

jake3988: Seriously? It's 2009 and you can't develop ticket machines to print an apostrophe? Is it really that hard?

No. But it's expensive. And you allready biatch about the price of a ticket.

/ maybe we can have the GOVERNMENT buy the new ticket machines
// they use free money.
/// course - the new machines will have to be made by union workers
//// they will be awfully expensive
// and won't work
// (wow - SIX slashies. Is there a limit?)

When my wife was a travel agent, the ticketing software couldn't handle a last name shorter than three letters. A customer named Ng had to add a letter to get a ticket.

And just in case everyone doesn't realize it, this is all so much nonsense. Security Theater. There is no real security involved. A few minutes on Google would show a terrorist how to by-pass this completely....not that they have to, as someone pointed out, terrorists fly on their real IDs. This is all just more stupidity and time wasting from the morans at TSA:

You can also use a fake boarding pass to fly on someone else's ticket. The trick is to have two boarding passes: one legitimate, in the name the reservation is under, and another phony one that matches the name on your photo ID. Use the fake boarding pass in your name to get through airport security, and the real ticket in someone else's name to board the plane.

This means that a terrorist on the no-fly list can get on a plane: He buys a ticket in someone else's name, perhaps using a stolen credit card, and uses his own photo ID and a fake ticket to get through airport security. Since the ticket is in an innocent's name, it won't raise a flag on the no-fly list.

Historically, forging a boarding pass was difficult. It required special paper and equipment. But since Alaska Airlines started the trend in 1999, most airlines now allow you to print your boarding pass using your home computer and bring it with you to the airport. This program was temporarily suspended after 9/11, but was quickly brought back because of pressure from the airlines. People who print the boarding passes at home can go directly to airport security, and that means fewer airline agents are required.

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/11/forge_your_own.html (new window)