Is there any accountability/transparency/recourse with stuff that’s confiscated? I had a bike tool confiscated, which had no sharp edges at all. (It is the “female” end of the wrench, so the ends are literally round knobs with hex-screw-shaped holes in them.) The fellow taking it from me apologetically said “no tools allowed” so he obviously knew what it was - a bike tool. I checked the list and it said “no sharp tools, like knives or axes” - but do screeners really have infinite discretion to take anything at all?
Is there anything I could have done (other than mail it back home to myself) that would have allowed me to keep my wrench?
When I flew a couple of years ago, why did they make me slowly, painfully get my shoes off, but never inspected my crutches and leg brace? I could definitely kill somebody with a crutch, even without the several kinds of modifications I could have made that wouldn’t have been detected. (Nobody ever required proof that I was actually injured, either; next time I fly, I might dig out the brace and crutches again, because it really got me through Customs faster.)
Do the machines “always” work? I just flew into Dallas and forgot I had a swiss army knife with me in my jacket pocket. I put the jacket on the conveyor belt and picked it up as usual. Only when I was about 50 ft. away did I put my hand in my pocket and find my Knife. Its huge! I packed in my lugage on my return flight but carried it around with me all day including changing flights. Pretty obvious that someone that tries to get stuff through will have no problem.
And what would happen if TSA were to stop checking shoes, thinking “Oh, well. Nobody’s going to put a bomb in there anymore; after all, we’re checking them”?
I wear a stainless steel cock ring (no, it’s not a Prince Albert)* at all times, EXCEPT for when I have to go through airport security (after which I go to the restroom and put it back on). I keep a mental checklist in my head for when I fly so that I (hopefully) don’t make any potentially embarrassing mistakes, but suppose that, someday, I do forget to remove the ring before I get to security and it sets off the metal detector?
Would they just wand me? (Of course, I’d tell them what could be setting the detector off.) Or would they require a visual inspection? (Not *necessarily * a problem for me, mind you, since I’m a tad exhibitionist.) And, if so, would I be able to choose which yummy TSA dude got to do said visual inspection? (Alright, I’m kidding on this one. Well, just a little.)
Also, I don’t know if your wife can say, but *would * stainless steel set off the detector? I ask because as committed as I am to dilligently removing the ring before going through security, I’d really prefer to have one less thing to remember to do do when I fly.
*If you want to know precisely what I’m referrijng to, just go to vulcanmetals dot com → +18 → Metal Products → at the bottom to Stainless Steel, and mine is the “D” Ring. NOTE re NSFW: Their welcome/opt out page has a message advising that the site is adult oriented, along with a “-18” and “+18” graphic, the former of which takes the viewer to Google. Otherwise, no porn pics or anything like that on the site.
I heard on the radio this morning that the TSA has modified the body jewelry rules as of today, allowing for “visual inspection” in lieu of removal in cases such as the Nipple Ring Lady. Just though it was relevant to the thread.
Thanks for the posts so far - very informative. Does your wife (or her co-workers) have an opinion on the suggestion that all this defense is for a threat which has passed? Do they believe that terrorists will strike in the same way, or do they consider that a non-airplane/airport threat is more likely?
Personally, I find it worrying that so much effort is focused on airport/airplane scenarios. I’d almost stretch to suggesting it was feel-better security theatre, but we’re not in The Pit.
I have gotten the SSSS on almost every single flight in the US I have made since this stuff was introduced. I think it is because I often connect from Dubai, I have used my UAE driving license for ID occasionally and my US passport has stamps from such places as Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. This has happened on flights into and out of:
San Francisco, San Jose, Reno, Las Vegas, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago and probably a few others.
They have never found anything on me, but I do not enjoy it when they take my wallet away from me for screening while I am not able to watch.
I am sorry if I come across harsh, but TSA left me bitter…
Last year I was going through security in San Francisco at about 7am. I had been traveling for more than 40 hours from Eastern Europe on a one-way ticket obtained at the airport… rushing to get home to Nevada as my father was very ill. I had been told to “come home immediately”. (“home” being not my current home, but where my family is from). My flights had been delayed and re-routed several times. I had finally arrived in SFO at about 3am and could not rent a car to get to Nevada earlier than the 8am flight.
After going through the checkpoint (SSSS), but before being led into the “phone booth” thing that shoots air at you…
My shoes were off and all my stuff was spread out on a table… phone, wallet, computer etc. and they were looking at it. My phone rang and I noticed it was my brother calling… I answered it and was screamed at it to put it down at the same moment that my brother was telling me my father had passed away. They snatched my phone away. I was yelled at and interrogated some more, rescreened and finally let go with no apologies, understanding or sympathy for what I was going through.
“Probably” is the operative word here – and even that is disputable. After all, is it so utterly implausible that somebody would say, “Hey! They’re not checking shoes anymore. That gives me an idea…”? (In fact, the OP’s wife has reported that they continue to find weapons stashed away within footwear, despite the current safety measures. This tells me that we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss such a possibility.)
Besides, the objection was that “EVERYONE and their mother knows that the shoes are going to be checked, so no one is going to put a bomb in there anymore.” That strikes me as a piss-poor reason to STOP inspecting shoes on the grounds nobody’s going to try this technique anyway.
Now, for the sake of argument, let’s suppose that terrorists probably would not attempt to use a shoe bomb. Do we really want to bet the farm on that claim?
This is a great thread, Frylock, but since you’re posting for your wife, it runs up against our rule prohibiting two people from using the same account. If it were just one post (i.e., “My wife wanted me to pass along this information…”) there wouldn’t be a problem, but since the whole thread is devoted to you typing as proxy for your wife, it crosses that line.
What we enourage your wife to do is to sign up for an account and answer the questions herself. If she’s willing to do that, we’ll be happy to re-open the thread and let her post away.
And, if so, would I be able to choose which yummy TSA dude got to do said visual inspection? (Alright, I’m kidding on this one. Well, just a little.)
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