A steep price for some positive coverage

Tony Grigsby, one of the TSA agents who survived Friday’s attack at LAX, made a statement Monday afternoon in front of his home.

He walked with a cane, slowly, assisted by his mother and grandmother, and talked about what happened.

“I was injured while trying to help an (elderly) man get to a safe area. I turned around and there was the gunman; he shot me twice,” recounted Grigsby.

Hence the cane.

And as he spoke of the agent who was killed, “Only now has it hit me that I will never see him again.”

At which point he couldn’t go on.

As I listened to him, I tried to think whether I had ever heard any positive coverage of the TSA.

We’ve all heard plenty of stuff like, “She was arrested and strip-searched over applesauce.”

And of course the stories about children, “My 3-year-old daughter, Mandy, went from a happy little girl to this (screams) during an ordeal through security.”

But Monday, we heard from a TSA agent who seemed like a really decent guy.

I may be out on a limb here, but whether you think airport security is a charade or not, I think that Tony Grigsby is probably more representative of who the TSA is than that other stuff.

“I’m just a regular person, he said. “I’m not here for fame or glory; I came to the TSA to protect people.”

By the way, for the week ending Oct. 25, in addition to the usual knives and razor blades, the TSA discovered 39 guns and 32 of them were loaded, which is considered a typical week.