My office is a nice mix of South Africans, Canadians, Americans and Taiwanese, so we often get in discussions that involve policies of our respective governments in relation to the other. Today, I was talking to one of the Canadians about the new policy that Americans, Mexicans, and Canadians will have to have passports to go between countries.
Somehow, this turned into a conversation about a hole in airport security that might be quite significant. You see, he’s lived in Taiwan for about 5 years now, so he’s traveled between Taiwan and Canada quite a bit. He says that every time he has had to change flights in the US, he’s been allowed to leave the airport to smoke (since there are no smoking rooms in American airports, as he said). He says that at LAX he has been allowed, if I can get this straight, to change from the international terminal to the domestic terminal, and then leave the building without going through customs, to smoke cigarettes.
He swears, that if he wanted at any time, just to hail a cab or simply walk away, he could. He swears by it. He says he’s done it “at least twelve times.”
Someone in the office said he’s sure that it’s illegal, but it’s overlooked to let people have a place to smoke. Someone else hinted that cigarette lobbies had something to do with it, but that’s a stretch…or is it?
Does this alarm anyone?
NOTE: It’s really late, so if anyone wants me to get any more details tomorrow at work, just ask me. My eyes are closing as I’m writing this.
That said, and not trying to call your co-worker a liar, everytime I have flown internationally there was no way out of the terminal without passing through customs. You are hemmed in well and good and MUST pass through security leaving and coming back. I have never seen it otherwise.
I’ve been through at least a half-dozen major American airports in the past few years, and all of them had smoking rooms. Admittedly, LAX wasn’t one of them, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they had them, too. And even if they didn’t, I can’t believe that they’d just allow anyone who waved a carton of cigs to just blithely walk through customs.
He did say that he had to go through security to come back in. That’s why I put the immigration part in the thread. He was very emphatic about the fact that standing out in front of the airport, he could have just walked away.
If I remember correctly, he said he didn’t have to go through a security check to leave the airport, either.
I knew when I was talking to him I should have been taking notes, because I wouldn’t get all the details. It’s worse, since I’ve never been to LAX. He also said he’s done it in, I think, Minnesota and Chicago, because, as he said, “smoking is prohibited in all American airports,” which appears not to be the case from some of your posts.
Back in '96 I had to change planes in Philly. Mia- Phi-Mad, then back. Both times I was warned that I could not leave the airport. Both times I walked out the door, took a bus, headed downtown and came back no problem. My bags were checked through, so all I was carrying was one small handbag.
Lived in Philly in '03. Took a lift, noticed it had a lot of buttons for levels over and below but didn’t require a key to reach those floors, went up to the cafeteria, ate, before going through check-in. Then when I was going back down to check in, I discovered that the lift was marked “employees only” I hadn’t noticed that on the way up! Went down using the ***** stairs, looked at lift. Yup, no sign.
Saw several paths which would allow a person using the Clipboard Effect to walk directly from the road to the hangars without going through any doors, walls or fences. But mind you, I would get picked up for shakedowns every time I flew from there: evidently curvy female Hispanic IT-people in their 30s are prime terrorist material. (A coworker WAGed that I got picked because the pickers were always guys and they wanted to feel me up, it’s only that they didn’t get their wish since I was always handled by a female guard).
Living in “terrorist country” is a bit like being a cop in that we’re used to noticing security holes. At least those the size of a bomb-loaded car
Is it just me or do [these](LAX Designated Smoking Areas (741KB)) smoking areas look like their for the workers and not the passengers? Aren’t they outside on the tarmac?
I hadn’t noticed that on the way up! Went down using the ***** stairs, looked at lift. Yup, no sign.