# Airport bullshit. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 27, 2003, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236 "2003-07-27T08:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/61 "2003-07-29T14:33:12Z")
You know, I am spring-loaded in the “support authority” mode, but airline security doesn;t make me FEEL any more secure. I work in the middle-east, I live in Central America. I generally have two passports (one from the US and one from Panama) on me. If I was in charge I would never let anyone as suspicious as me fly. Never. I NEVER get special tratment at any airport, except Amsterdam, where I always do. Amsterdam makes me feel safe. Everwhere else just annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/62 "2003-07-29T16:04:05Z")
Knitting needles are on the “OK” list. I have carried them on many flights without any problem. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/63 "2003-07-29T17:44:54Z")
**A Public Service Announcement for those who continue to show up late for flights and want to bring illegal objects on board:** Some other recent developments you might want to be aware of - Smoking causes lung cancer. The horseless carriage is going to replace “'ol paint” as a means of transportation. The internet is not a “fad” Don’t eat the yellow snow. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/64 "2003-07-29T21:55:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > **I hope you’re correct, but I think as time passes, people will get lazy and complacent. I’ve already heard some people spout off that “You know the next hijacking will be real, and not a suicide pact, because they’ll take great effort to convince people that they really don’t want to crash the plane.”, and “I’m not getting out of my seat - what if it is just a hijacking? Making the twitchy terrorists panic would just kill us all anyhow.”, etc, etc. Same old bullshit as people try to convince themselves that they can get through life with No Risk and No Effort.** From: [http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/07/29/airline.warning/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/07/29/airline.warning/index.html) > [@](#): > > Sources say the scenario they are looking at would not require the hijackers to have had any type of flight training. Hijackers might try to lead passengers to believe that they are facing a hostage situation to dissuade them from taking any preemptive actions, as passengers did on Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. Scary. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/65 "2003-07-30T01:52:32Z")
Just think of the repercussions to business travellers after the first time someone beats a flight attendant to death with a laptop computer… ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/66 "2003-07-30T16:50:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*Regarding that Alton Brown story, an omelette pan seems like a fine weapon. Just saying. \*\* True. A 10" Calphalon pan (his mis-spelling was curious - not sure if he really doesn’t know how to spell it, or if it was intentional, so as not to be “promoting” the brand) can be used to give someone a serious gonking. They’re not very far removed from cast iron in terms of density and hardness. ---
**Author:** ![InTheField](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@InTheField](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InTheField)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/67 "2003-07-30T18:20:31Z")
I don’t think there is an “OK” list in Canadian airports. It seems to be on the whim of the local security. After an experience where my S.O. had her nail scissors confiscated (they were tiny , blades about 1 cm (less than 0.5 inch), we were very careful on our next flight to exclude ANY dangerous item from our carry on. Fast forward to airport security run by Humourless Drones Who Like To Make People Miserable tm : We run our carryon through the xray. Stony-faced security lady says in a loud voice: “YOU HAVE A DANGEROUS ITEM! OPEN YOUR BAGS NOW!” We comply. Dangerous item is a pair of plastic childs scissors, with blunt ends. Suitable to give our 3 year old travelling with us. Cuts paper (not very well). Has a picture of a certain Disney mouse on them. ENTIRELY MADE OF PLASTIC. A plastic cutlery fork is more dangerous. A credit card has a sharper edge. S.O. tries to engage power-mad security lady in a logical debate about the childs scissors. Officious, rude security lady tells S.O. that “she could have us arrested if we don’t hand it over”. What the fuck? S.O. goes away to the gate to cool off. Recognizing that this is not a fight I can win, I hand over the dangerous plastic scissors. Our 3 year old asks “why is that lady taking my scissors daddy?” and starts to cry. I cannot resist, and reply in a loud voice “Because she enjoys making little children cry. She’s a mean, nasty old lady who loves making other people sad. We’ll buy you a new pair of TOY SCISSORS, and hope that the lady gets the help she needs” –smattering of applause from other people getting frisked/searched/taking shoes off. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/68 "2003-07-31T03:19:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Uzi \* > \*\*Joke? The customs agent wanted to know why I was so accurate in my declaration. \*\* Yes, but you said Canadian Pesos. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/69 "2003-07-31T04:12:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LaurAnge \* > \*\*Yes, but you said Canadian Pesos. \*\* You never heard the Loonie called a Peso? Or, are you just being a little sensitive about things? Like Pesos in Mexico, Canadian dollars are useless pretty much anywhere except in Canada. US dollars are taken almost everywhere. If we were smart we’d create a North American currency like the Euro. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/70 "2003-07-31T04:24:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mama Tiger \* > \*\*You can’t lock up your luggage any more, **Zoe** , unless you’re willing to let them break open the lock to search your bag if necessary. Bummer. \*\* Unless you’re transporting firearms, then you MUST have a locking gun case, lockable gun case (and you have to DEMONSTRATE that it locked), you won’t be allowed to fly your gun without one. We had a devil of a time coming back from a remote site once where our gun case had broken, it looked fine, but wouldn’t lock anymore. The bush pilot who flew us back out of the remote site didn’t have a problem, but once we got back to the “city” (the bustling metropolis of Bethel Alaska), they weren’t happy. After a lot of sweettalking, and the gun being escorted to the plane and from the plane on arrival back in Anchorage we got it back, but dang!! What a hassle! This was before 9/11, otherwise we probably would have had to have fedexed it back or something. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/71 "2003-07-31T05:06:36Z")
Just today I saw some little plastic locking devices that don’t even have to be cut off. They are in the new Magellan’s catalog and come about twenty to a package. But then what’s the point? When they search your checked baggage, are you present so that you can lock it back? (This will be an overseas flight to Paris for ten days and I will be taking lots of “stuff.” Should I wear any valuable pieces of jewelry, put them in carry on or pack them in checked luggage?) Have any of you used those mesh separators so that you don’t arrive with a totally jumbled up wardrobe? I don’t mind waiting but I do have trouble standing up for anything longer than about ten minutes. Is this likely to be a problem? **matt\_mcl** , BTW, Montreal is lovely in the snow from a few miles up! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/72 "2003-07-31T07:20:37Z")
**Zoe** , don’t put anything in your checked baggage that cannot be easily replaced. No jewelry, cameras, prescription meds (especially stuff with a street value like painkillers), electronics, etc. I’d even think twice about taking pricey and attractive clothes like cashmere, etc. There have been numerous cases of hidden cameras filming baggage crew members helping themselves to people’s belongings thanks to new regs which prevent travellers from reasonably protecting their belongings. Paris (de Gaulle) is one of the prime airports for it, too, if I recall correctly. In this quest for security, the security of personal property has gone right out the window, big time. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/73 "2003-07-31T07:38:21Z")
You can’t FedEx guns, **CanvasShoes** , but you can UPS 'em. We’d left my great-grandfather’s shotgun with a gunsmith near my MIL’s house on the opposite coast from us for some conservation work, and my MIL was able to UPS it back. **ENugent** , what type of knitting needles do you carry? I’ve had enough problems I’ve given up on them, but it would be nice to have them if I can. The latest idiocy in **whiterabbit’s** trip. She’s a very small person and uses cushions when driving to get her up high enough to see well. Two foam wheelchair cushions, to be exact. Which are bulky since they’re 3-4 inches thick unsquished. And since she’s renting a car at the other end, she has to take her cushions. But she’s also small enough that she can’t handle big suitcases, and we struggle mightily to cram them into her bag that she’ll carry on with her, checking the bag with her clothes (figuring if her clothes went missing, she could buy more, but the cushions would be needed immediately no matter what). They really won’t fit in the bag easily, so we contact the airline. Necessary adaptive aids under ADA and all that, could she carry on her suitcase AND one cushion out of her suitcase, even though there’s a one-carry-on-per-person rule? What do you think? Of course not! In spite of the fact that it’s a FOAM CUSHION that she would then SIT on during the flight (which, I might add, would make those miserable airplane seats a bit more comfortable for her, too). Fucking idiots. I had to put my whole weight on the damn suitcase to get it to shut. I only hope she can cram them in herself for the trip home next week. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/74 "2003-07-31T11:16:44Z")
Soccer team from Spain arrives in the USA. Dutch player is refused entry and put on a plane back to Spain. > [@](#): > > [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/3098419.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/3098419.stm) > > Patrick Kluivert has been refused permission to enter the United States to play in a pre-season tournament. The American authorities have blocked his entry due to a criminal record for his involvement in a fatal car accident in 1996 which saw him given a community penalty. To enter the country he must submit a special visa which he has not completed. > … . . . > the Dutch striker was not allowed through passport control with the rest of his colleagues. Following two and a half hours of interrogation he was told he must return to Spain. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/75 "2003-07-31T11:52:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoe \* > \*\* > When they search your checked baggage, are you present so that you can lock it back? > \*\* IME, not always. See my previous comments about my locking guitar case, which wouldn’t have stayed shut if left unlocked. And this was even though it was X-rayed in my presence before they would allow it to be checked. Apparently that wasn’t good enough, because it was unlocked and searched again after it left my sight. Why can’t they just search checked baggae before allowing it to leave the passenger’s hands? I would have been happy to unlock the guitar case for them. I’d say carry your jewelry, or any thing small, valuable, and/or irreplaceable, with you. That way at least you have some control over what happens to it. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/76 "2003-07-31T14:07:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mama Tiger \* > **ENugent** , what type of knitting needles do you carry? I’ve had enough problems I’ve given up on them, but it would be nice to have them if I can. I do pretty much all my knitting on circular needles, which are a little less threatening-looking. I’ve carried large bamboo ones (10.5’s), and last flight, I brought two #3 metal circulars (I was learning the technique for knitting two socks at once on two circulars). I was more worried about those, because they are thin and sharp, but I had no problem with them. I’ve always printed out and carried with me the [TSA guidelines](http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/tsa_policy/tsa_policy_0010.xml) that say that knitting needles are allowed, but I’ve never had to show them to a security person. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/77 "2003-07-31T14:43:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GusNSpot \* > \*\*I have a stainless steel shoulder, I carry a picture of the X-ray \*\* Actual question: how did you obtain a wallet-size copy of your X-ray? I have bunches of X-rays, but traditional photocopying methods leve me with an incomprehensible grayish-black blob. I haven’t needed to prove the plate issue yet, but I suppose that day could arrive. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/78 "2003-07-31T14:56:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eva Luna \* > Actual question: how did you obtain a wallet-size copy of your X-ray? I have bunches of X-rays, but traditional photocopying methods leve me with an incomprehensible grayish-black blob. I haven’t needed to prove the plate issue yet, but I suppose that day could arrive. I have gotten good results by using a regular camera and putting the transparency up on a white, translucent, surface. I cannot boast of any metal or wodden parts in my body though. Just a couple of root canals. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/79 "2003-07-31T21:17:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Uzi \* > \*\*You never heard the Loonie called a Peso? Or, are you just being a little sensitive about things? \*\* Uhh… nope. Gotta say, that’s a first for me. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/80 "2003-07-31T23:37:47Z")
Is it worth it to buy those little bags that keep your film from being damaged by x-rays? Thanks to everyone who has helped me out with information here. I’m still wondering if I will have to _stand_ in line for a couple of hours. I’m okay when I’m walking, but I don’t think security would like it if I pace back and forth a lot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236.md?page=5)