G reat news for everyone who is soon to fly via a US airport: the Trump administration has just elevated the travel experience. You still risk getting arrested by immigration agents and thrown into a detention centre, but never mind that! Instead, luxuriate in the fact that none of the poorly paid Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff with whom you interact will be sitting down. The government recently got rid of all the chairs at travel document checking stations, arguing that “maintaining a standing posture helps reinforce professionalism” and strengthens “our security posture and … commitment to hospitality”. Funnily enough, border patrol and customs officers have not adopted the same policy. Perhaps because their job tends to involve being as inhospitable as possible.
TSA agents aren’t the only US workers getting sore calf muscles during their shifts. Unlike their European and British counterparts, cashiers at US supermarkets have traditionally been forced to stand while working . The US’s upright obsession seems to be down to a Protestant work ethic and a lack of labour laws . Sitting apparently conveys laziness to the discerning American consumer. Over the years there have been numerous right-to-sit lawsuits pushing back on mandatory standing but, while things are shifting slightly, seated supermarket cashiers are still unusual. One exception is Aldi, which has been expanding aggressively in the US. Cashiers get chairs at Aldi because (surprise) it’s more efficient when your workers’ feet aren’t aching all the time.
While seated cashiers and TSA agents may be looked down on by the US establishment, it’s a different story for high-flyers. Rather than “maintaining a standing posture” to “reinforce professionalism”, the US president often looks as if he is snoozing at his desk. Which, to be fair, is probably because he regularly stays up all night posting extremely important memes on the internet.
Having their chairs seized isn’t the only indignity that TSA agents have faced recently: along with other federal employees, they had to work without pay for several weeks during government shutdowns in Trump’s second term. Members of Congress on the other hand? They could continue to collect their generous salaries during the shutdown unless they explicitly chose not to . Americans should not take this injustice sitting down.
Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
