The TSA Line Changed Me

Let me be honest with you—I have not been a fan of TSA.

If you travel, you already know what I mean. Every agent seems to tell you something different. Shoes on, shoes off. Laptop out, laptop stays in. One person asks for your ID, the next one wonders why you even have it out. It feels like chaos, and I’ve stood in those lines plenty of times thinking, this is the worst.

But something changed for me recently, and I didn’t expect it to come from TSA of all places.

Here’s the situation: TSA agents in many places right now are still showing up to work… without getting paid.

That stopped me.

Because suddenly, I’m standing there mildly annoyed about my bag getting flagged, and the person helping me through the line hasn’t received a paycheck. It forced me to pause and ask a question I hadn’t considered before:

Do I still get to be frustrated right now? And more importantly—what am I actually looking at here?

Because it’s not just a job being done.

It’s a promise being kept. No paycheck. No guarantee. No applause. And yet, they show up. That’s when this became less about TSA and more about something deeper.

It made me ask myself a question I didn’t necessarily love answering: Would I do that?

Would I show up for 30 days without pay? Would I continue serving people, doing my job, handling the stress, knowing there’s no immediate reward coming?

Now, I’m not suggesting anyone ignore their responsibilities. We all have families to take care of, obligations to meet, realities we can’t pretend away. You’ve got to take care of yourself first.

But at some level, this becomes a character question. Who are you when the reward is removed?

That question stuck with me as I stood there in line, and I made a simple decision in that moment. And thankfully, the line wasn’t anything like I thought it would be! 

Nothing dramatic. Nothing complicated. Just this: I’m going to be kind. I’m going to smile. I’m going to say thank you. I’m going to be patient.

Because the truth is, TSA agents don’t see a lot of that. They see people at their most rushed, most stressed, most frustrated. They’re not exactly getting the best version of humanity walking through those lines.

So what if, just for a moment, you were the exception?

I even had the thought—what if every traveler just gave them a dollar? Not as a bribe, not to skip the line, but simply as a way of saying, “I see you.” Now, that may not be realistic. It may not even be allowed.

But this is: Respect.  Gratitude.  Kindness. And those cost you nothing.

I never expected to learn anything meaningful from standing in a TSA line. But here we are.

I was 6 hours early for my flight, and still some good came from it.

Because the person scanning your bag, directing traffic, doing their job without a paycheck, is quietly demonstrating something powerful:

A promise doesn’t depend on conditions. It depends on you.

So the next time you’re in that line—and you feel the frustration start to creep in—pause for just a second.

And ask yourself: What’s my promise right now?

Because theirs? They’re keeping it.

Keep the promise.