Huh - learned something new. I thought it was made from a rock… ETA - that sounds dumber than I meant it to - sulfur is a rock too.
I do know non dairy cream will go up in flames. I didn’t have hair on my arms for awhile because of that once.
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But what if somebody carries a whole baby onto the plane and powders it there?
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I like to compare credit card security to the TSA too. It’s about showing “we did something!” Even if it’s as ridiculous as having someone sign an electronic pad. Both systems are about diverting responsibility after the fact, not preventing anything. I can think of a dozen ways to get a weapon just as dangerous as a butcher knife aboard a plane.
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I guess they better make people check their babies.
That would make waiting for your bag at the carousel a bit more interesting.
And there’d be this baby at the end, that no one had claimed, crying and circling around and around.
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Very true. I basically learned those lessons long before the current level of inspection. Still does not relieve my frustration of going through airport security though.
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Haha, the smoke detector sound had my cat baffled!
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I’m going to guess that “D. Be White” is also pretty key.
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The stuff made from cornstarch probably is. Maybe not talc.
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They’re only “bafflingly incompetent” if you assume that their purpose is to increase security.
It rather obviously isn’t.
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Not gonna lie, this is true. Alas, not useful advice people can follow.
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diabetics who need to travel with fluids or die
That’s a bit of hyperbole.
You’re allowed to bring insulin, of course. You can bring juice, too, but they’ll make you regret it. Many times I’ve been questioned about my… [organ sting!] juice. Even after they assure themselves that it’s safe, they insist on going through my (already scanned) stuff. Because anyone depraved enough to carry juice is likely to be a terrorist.
I don’t bring juice through security anymore.
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Funny enough, the first time I ever flew was about 4 days before 9/11, where I spent about 4 months in the distant suburbs of Nagoya for a term (the outskirts of Seto, to be exact). I’m kinda outdoorsy, played guitar in a Metal band, and so I had cargo pants and a camo shirt thingy packed away, and quite long hair. Also a dark green fedora (Not that kind of hat, the kind with a long brim, more a cowboy hat without the curl).
On the way back in December of '01, I had a layover at DFW in Texas, just like the flight there. I really didn’t think anything of wearing my camo shirt thing with cargo pants with some facial hair and my fedora. Honestly, I’d taken to trying to look tougher to get people to stop bugging me all the time in Japan. I’m sure you understand.
Anyways, going through security at DFW, I had a TSA guy walk right up to me in a long line, look me right in the face and say, “THIS IS A RANDOM SEARCH”. I got walked over to some Army guys with big M16’s and searched. To their credit, they didn’t have their guns pointed at me. But let me tell you, I learned to dress nice every time I flew after that, and I’ve always been the very picture of politeness.
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I’ve been flying since the early 70s so I’ve seen how security has evolved in the US. As a side effect I remember when it was pleasant to fly as well. It means I also remember [REDACTED] groups hijacking and blowing up planes pretty early in life.
Never make excuses for your hat.
In the mid 90s I was courting my wife to be and flew from NYC to Tokyo for a long weekend to bring her a pie. So there I am at Narita immigration wearing long shorts, a hockey jet and hiking boots with a beard. All I had with me was my backpack and a pie. Of course I got searched. Total drug dealer profile.
The funny part to me was when he asked to inspect my boots:
Him: let me see your shoe please
Me: just one?
Him: yes please
(I hand him a boot, he inspects it and then allowed me to repackage my bag and put on my boot again)
My question was, if I’m hiding something in my boots, am I gonna give him the one with the secret compartment?
In 00 (pre 9/11 anyway) I was transiting at Frankfurt with a carry on full of laptops and network gear. That got me a trip to the bomb inspection room with a number of armed guards with weapons ready.
Even in the US 10 years ago I got random search for wearing a loose fitting suit.
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Thank you. This really touches me.
I have a great appreciation for this as well.
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Can you bring it through frozen? Then let it thaw on the other side of the security barrier?
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Since babies are essentially fecal guns that makes them ‘guns’ and so nobody should be allowed to travel with them.
Imagine how much nicer flying would be with no babies. Aaah…
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Babies are fine. Its toddlers that are monsters.
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TSA remains bafflingly incompetent
They are masters of making me pay more money just to avoid flying through America.
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I was once shamed for forgetting that I had a half bottle of sunscreen in my bag. The guy got so into his lecture that he completely missed the folding knife with a 3.5" blade literally sitting right under the sunscreen. I swear he had to have touched it when he pulled out the sunscreen bottle
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At least you can avoid the Kabuki, unlike us poor Americans who live here. Every d*** time I travel it always the “security” that causes the most problems. It just a flying bus and yet, somehow, we have to enjoy the tender care of the TSA.
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