# 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:** 5
**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, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/81 "2003-07-31T23:41:58Z")
\*\*Zoe, \*\* I’d say go up to security and explain your situation. Once after leg surgery (I wasn’t visibly injured, but was in a lot of pain after standing for more than 15 minutes or so) all Chicago flights were cancelled after a night of heavy thunderstorms, and I was stuck in a line for a couple of hours trying to rebook and get another flight. At the counter I explained my situation (I’d been in enough pain to sit on the floor or my bag for most of my wait), and they told me I should have snatched an airline person and had them put me at the front of the line. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/82 "2003-08-01T07:15:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mama Tiger \* > \*\*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. Well, thanks **Mama Tiger** , but nowadays when we go remote we get to take air horns and pepper spray (except in the bush planes), for protection against wildlife. Oh yay! 😃 > [@](#): > > 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. …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? > …\*\* She could just go ahead and carry it against her chest if she’s able, I see TONS of people carrying their personal pillows and/or blankets onto airplanes. If she just did it I bet they wouldn’t even bat an eye. I’ve never seen anyone have their pillow confiscated (what’re they gonna do? SUFFOCATE the flight attendent at “pillowpoint”???) ---
**Author:** ![Ray\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ray\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ray_Walker)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/83 "2003-08-01T07:47:50Z")
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like EVERY employee at the DFW airport is just incredibly surly. I dealt with about 5 employees in all, from the metal detector attendants to the McDonald’s employees, and ALL of them were just incredibly rude. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/84 "2003-08-01T16:20:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoe \* > \*\*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? > \*\* It’s generally advised to NEVER put anything into checked luggage that you would not want to be without for more than 12 hours; by extension that includes anything you wouldn’t want stolen or lost permanently. Definitely not valuable jewelry, medicines, money or credit cards, irreplaceable paperwork. In fact, travelers are usually advised not to bring valuable jewelry at all. Another thing that’s useful to help avoid having your wardrobe jumbled are clear plastic bags. Seconding Eva’s suggestion of notifying security and/or airline personnel early on if you have physical standing in line issues. You can also tell them on booking the flight that you have a physical problem and request a wheelchair. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/85 "2003-08-01T17:19:17Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. So, adopt the dollar. I like my Greenbacks. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/86 "2003-08-01T20:37:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smiling bandit \* > \*\*So, adopt the dollar. I like my Greenbacks. \*\* I love Canadian money. I think we should adopt that. Hell, I like the fact that they have coins called “Looneys”. And their money is much prettier than US money. Ava ---
**Author:** ![bubba\_jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@bubba\_jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubba_jr)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/87 "2003-08-02T03:35:47Z")
My Dad almost got the full up to the elbow poop shoot search when the guy was feeling up his boot and he said “Hey, you look like Al Bundy” And every time I go through, I get some fat ass who has to "verify"that the rivets and the fucking zipper on my Levis, are in fact that. How many people wear Levis. Why can’t I get a woman inspector? ---
**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:** [August 2, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/88 "2003-08-02T03:57:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CanvasShoes \* > \*\*I’ve never seen anyone have their pillow confiscated (what’re they gonna do? SUFFOCATE the flight attendent at “pillowpoint”???) \*\* It wasn’t a matter of confiscation (although that would be an issue – the stupid thing cost $50, it’s not your typical Wal-Mart pillow!) so much as violating the only-one-carry-on-item rule. Which the idiots at Delta weren’t interested in bending even when it was an accessibility issue. Whatever happened to common sense? I mean, she could have stood there and yelled “ADA!” but she shouldn’t HAVE to! ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/89 "2003-08-02T05:14:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mama Tiger \* > \*\*It wasn’t a matter of confiscation (although that would be an issue – the stupid thing cost $50, it’s not your typical Wal-Mart pillow!) so much as violating the only-one-carry-on-item rule. Which the idiots at Delta weren’t interested in bending even when it was an accessibility issue. Whatever happened to common sense? I mean, she could have stood there and yelled “ADA!” but she shouldn’t HAVE to! \*\* See, that seriously pisses me off. I took four flights altogether last weekend to go visit my boyfriend - three of which were on tiny puddle jumper planes. I typically carry a very small messenger bag/purse, and a regular sized canvas bag (it’s printed with Van Gogh’s Starry, Starry Night) that I carry my laptop in, but it can easily fit under the seat in front of me - I take up NO room in the overheads with this stuff. And even though we were on SMALL planes, people were still hauling those huge rolling suitcases AND laptop cases on the plane. It’s like no one has any respect for anyone else on the flight - as long as THEY don’t have to check a bag, they should be able to take up as much room as they want. If you ask me, laptop bags should be considered your one piece of carry-on and _not_ a personal item - some of those laptop bags are bigger than my regular piece of carry-on. They were forcing some people to red tag their bags and put them under the plane when they boarded, and I got really sick of them arguing with the attendants. For hell’s sake, it’s a one hour flight, the plane is about the size of a minivan, and they’re squeezing 25 of us on this flight. Check the fucking bag already. That said, I can’t believe they wouldn’t allow her to bring one of those pillows when some people bring enough luggage for a week as carry-on. Ava ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/90 "2003-08-02T05:43:52Z")
What sailor said about how to copy a x-ray. I was in aerial mapping and did it a different way but his should work well. I hear that yuo can get medical cards that will do the same thing and I ought to get one becasue the idoits are running the joint and I don’t see common sense naking a come back anytime soon. YMMV ---
**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:** [August 2, 2003, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/91 "2003-08-02T11:28:34Z")
Thanks **GusNSpot;** I totally missed **sailor’s** respoounse (and thanks to you too, of course). That’s what I get for multitasking. I haven’t needed to see my ortho doc in a couple of years, luckily, but I suppose I could call his office and ask. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/92 "2003-08-02T15:02:20Z")
> [@](#): > > So available light and I are running a little late for our flight. This sentence basically negates any complaints you have about airport security. It’s bad enough getting through security when you’re on time. People arriving late make it HELLISH. Get in the queue with the rest of us and shut the fuck up. And please note that we’d all get through more quickly if you’d leave your freaking knives at HOME. Geesh. ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/93 "2003-08-02T16:58:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bubba jr \* > \*\* > And every time I go through, I get some fat ass who has to "verify"that the rivets and the fucking zipper on my Levis, are in fact that. How many people wear Levis. Why can’t I get a woman inspector? \*\* I’ve gotten that treatment as well. Last flight out of O’Hare, not only did I get wanded/patted down all over but the security agent asked me to roll down the waistband of said jeans so she could “make sure”. Nothing makes a trip fun like having to flash a security agent your panties. Thank god I kind of listened to Nana and had clean/unripped ones on but I don’t think Nana had the snakeprint thong in mind. I’ve been stopped more times flying to what you would think are not high risk areas - Chicago to St Louis, Chicago to Columbus OH and the return trips. A short redhead flying through the Midwest apparently sets the bells and whistles off, I guess. I now plan to have my carry on searched and to be wanded/frisked. ---
**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:** [August 2, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/94 "2003-08-02T18:05:58Z")
A friend from Canada came to visit us for Mardi Gras this year. Took her 2-1/2 hours go through security in Toronto coming down here; she was searched three separate times. (Well, she’s not actually Canadian, she’s British living in Canada for 30 years, but apparently that makes her suspicious.) When she left New Orleans to return to Toronto, took her about five minutes to check and go through security. Talk about a joke. I don’t mind searching if it’s EVERYONE. Anyone else ever fly in and out of Ireland? Leaving Dublin, there was a bomb-sniffing dog at the single door to the airport, sniffing every item carried into the building. We then had to identify every single metal or electrical item in our bags and mark the bags with appropriate stickers. I hand-carried my 15 rolls of exposed film, and every single canister was opened and the film shaken out to make sure it really was film. We landed in Shannon before crossing the Atlantic, and every single carry-on was searched again getting on the plane. But it was CONSISTENT. They did it to EVERYBODY. I really didn’t object. It’s the inconsistent application and heartless application of rules in the US that’s obnoxious. And we STILL don’t have security worth shit. Especially in New Orleans. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/95 "2003-08-04T06:55:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PunditLisa \* > \*\*This sentence basically negates any complaints you have about airport security. It’s bad enough getting through security when you’re on time. People arriving late make it HELLISH. > > Get in the queue with the rest of us and shut the fuck up. And please note that we’d all get through more quickly if you’d leave your freaking knives at HOME. > > Geesh. \*\* By “a little late”, I meant that we arrived at the airport “only” an hour before the flight. If we didn’t have a bag to check, or if it wasn’t unusually busy, an hour would have been sufficient. We don’t fly very often, and we usually don’t check any bags, so we miscalculated the time needed. As for the knife, they pulled us off to the side and continued to pass other people through the checkpoint. And please note that my major complaints about security were with my own dumb self about the knife, and with making an old man stumble out of his wheelchair and through the checkpoint. Go read my OP again. This time print it out and use a highlighter. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/96 "2003-08-04T18:53:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DarrenS \* > **The pilot then gets on the plane, and settles in his seat in the cockpit, with a nice _axe_ right behind him in easy reach.** And don’t forget that if a U.S. pilot has received the right training and certification, then he or she can now also carry a gun. (The first set of gun-certified pilots graduated last week …) ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/97 "2003-08-05T05:32:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by avabeth \* > \*\*See, that seriously pisses me off. I took four flights altogether last weekend to go visit my boyfriend - three of which were on tiny puddle jumper planes. I typically carry a very small messenger bag/purse, and a regular sized canvas bag (it’s printed with Van Gogh’s Starry, Starry Night) that I carry my laptop in, but it can easily fit under the seat in front of me - I take up NO room in the overheads with this stuff. And even though we were on SMALL planes, people were still hauling those huge rolling suitcases AND laptop cases on the plane. It’s like no one has any respect for anyone else on the flight - as long as THEY don’t have to check a bag, they should be able to take up as much room as they want. If you ask me, laptop bags should be considered your one piece of carry-on and _not_ a personal item - some of those laptop bags are bigger than my regular piece of carry-on. > > They were forcing some people to red tag their bags and put them under the plane when they boarded, and I got really sick of them arguing with the attendants. For hell’s sake, it’s a one hour flight, the plane is about the size of a minivan, and they’re squeezing 25 of us on this flight. Check the fucking bag already. That said, I can’t believe they wouldn’t allow her to bring one of those pillows when some people bring enough luggage for a week as carry-on. > > Ava \*\* Encore Encore Clap clap clap… These people with multiple carry ons drive me nuts, and the people who have heavy carry ons and can not get them in the overhead on their own. Or they take up the space alloted for me. Once someone asked me to take my carry on(about 18 inches by 12inches) out of the overhead so they could have the room. Ain’t gonna happen!😃 ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/98 "2003-08-05T15:31:18Z")
I remember flying back from Guatemala 7 months after 9/11. I had bought a 12" knife while down there for my b/f at the time and thought I’d risk bringing it home. I figured if they confiscated it, fine, I’d live. But I had to at least try to get it back home. Because it was an international flight, they searched everyone’s bags, checked in or not (the search was conducted before check in). They didn’t find the knife. I knew I had hid it pretty well, but still. I was able to take a 12" knife from a Central American country into the States, with no problems. U.S customs didn’t find it either. Scary. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/99 "2003-08-05T16:49:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mama Tiger \* > \*\*It wasn’t a matter of confiscation (although that would be an issue – the stupid thing cost $50, it’s not your typical Wal-Mart pillow!) so much as violating the only-one-carry-on-item rule. Which the idiots at Delta weren’t interested in bending even when it was an accessibility issue. Whatever happened to common sense? I mean, she could have stood there and yelled “ADA!” but she shouldn’t HAVE to! \*\* This story makes no sense to me at all, and seems to be based on mis-communication more than anything. My experience? I’m a Delta Gold Medallion member who has flown on more than a few hundred Delta flights just in the last few years. Including perhaps 20 this year so far. And on each one, I take my roller bag and my “personal item”, which can actually be quite large, so long as it fits under the seat. In fact, I’m doing so in about 3 hours from now. You described the pillows/cushions as being small - small enough to fit in any number of canvas book/carry bags, it seems. It seems to me you could have just stuffed it into a $2 canvas bag and carried it on. Since I see people doing the exact same thing each and every time I fly on Delta. Or any other major carrier. In fact, the only time I have ever been denied my separate “personal” item is on Air France and British Air - which has cost them many thousands of dollars in lost revenue from me, too. 😕 I’m not even going to comment on the people who want to ban people like me from carrying my roller bag (which always fits fine) and my laptop bag, except that they obviously are either completely amateur travelers, or else have never had their bags broken into and items stolen and of course completely trust the airlines… ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236/100 "2003-08-06T05:08:13Z")
I flew up to Portland, Or for Dopefest (YAH!). We went through the security pretty well except for me forgetting my phone in my pocket on the way back. My bear who is aged 7 and I carried two pillows and two loaded backpacks on the plane. My only real complaint was the drip airport personnel at PDX who wouldn’t allow us to pre-board (sorry maam thats for 5 and under, despite the fact that several people behind us were totally cool on letting us pre-board). They let us at SLC when we left. **Mama Tiger** if **whiterabbit** is your youngling that would explain why I enjoy her posts so much! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-bullshit/191236.md?page=4)