You want my toothpaste? FINE TAKE IT! Especially if the security threat is lowered...

In My Humble Opinion
61

Put me in the absolutely-useless-rule column. This isn’t going to stop anything.

So, if it is possible to easily concoct a liquid explosive on board from a small-ish volume of component products (which the jury is still out on), I just have this image of terrorists walking through security laughing at all these foolish people throwing out their chapstick and Pepsi and toothpaste while they have a couple of small, heavy grade plastic bags of whatever liquids needed taped to the inside of their legs underneath some baggy pants. The only way to stop that is to pat down every traveller…

God am I dreading my upcoming business trip. :frowning:

62

Sheeeit - make the baggies in curves and tape 'em tight enough, and I bet you couldn’t even find them in a pat-down if the person was overweight. I’ve got enough rolls on me that feel sorta liquid-squishy to the pat-down touch.

Naked flight. It’s only a matter of time.

And, technically, since the Right to Wear Clothing is not enumerated in the Constitution, I guess I have no problem with that! :smiley:

63

I hope the Dept of Homeland Security is keeping track to make sure that some Muslim charity isn’t stocking up on Stadium Pals .

64

If they were prepared to enhance beverage service to allow for people who used to bring their own water on the plane to stay hydrated, it wouldn’t bother me so much - but I flew on Thursday to SF and back yesterday, and on none of my 4 planes was beverage service any better than normal. I got really dehydrated. I can’t imagine how bad I would have felt flying on longer flights, like cross-country or transatlantic or -pacific.

I flew a week after 9/11 and they just made me drink out of my water bottle, and that was fine. What’s different now?

Planes aren’t designed to hold everyone’s luggage in the cargo hold, and I’ve never seen such empty overhead compartments. Luckily, our baggage all made it with us, but I can’t imagine that the baggage systems in every airport can handle the increase in checked baggage. I predict a lot of lost luggage and overworked/broken down baggage systems.

65

How many times did you ask for water – or any other non-alcoholic beverage --and got refused? I’ve generally had success wandering to the galley area and asking. Or pressing the call button.

66

My two reactions to this:
1 - I always assumed there was a group of Very Intelligent People sitting in a room on 9/12/01 deciding what to ban and what not to ban. Are liquids really more dangerous now, immediately after they failed to be used in a terrorist plot, than they were on 9/12/01?

2 - Well at least we finally figured out the last dangerous item, so I can now have the Definitive List of Items I Can’t Carry on Planes engraved on a plaque…

67

But the right to bare arms is, right?

68

Some airports do have play areas now. Personally, I think they should have fitness centers in airports. If you arrive early or your flight is delayed, you can go burn off some extra frustration and calories on the treadmill. It’d be ultimately healthier, and safer, than the airport lounge.

69

Because some people are prima-donnas.

70

My idiot local paper just suggested packing tooth powder or baking soda instead of toothpaste.

Can you say “anthrax scare” ?

Again, my position is that if I can’t go there by car, I just won’t go.

71

Ms Robyn, you need to be there that early because it takes each and every person 10 minutes to go through both levels of security now. In most medium and large sized airports, that math becomes frightening.

I’m flying to LAX on Thursday. I leave my puddle-jumper local airport and land in Philly, where I have no doubt but that I will spend 2-3 hours waiting on security, then buying lots of water in an attempt to hydrate up before I fly, then throwing out the rest of the water. ( I hate that I cannot bring water on board- it’s the hidden secret of beating jet lag, at least for me ).

I sent my clothing by Fed Ex today. Seriously. Especially because I frequently change through Philly, the worst damned airport for lost luggage in the U.S.A. It is not worth it to have to buy four or five days worth of clothing the second I land, when for much less money than new clothing I can Fed Ex my suitcase. I detest the expense, but I trust Fed Ex a lot more than I trust the air carriers.

The whole schmeg about taking my gels and toothpaste, meh. I completely accept the patterns of response based on verifiable threats. People in the U.S.A. need to remember that until 5 years ago, we were very unique in the flying world. Our security overall was much more lax than it was in other countries.

In 1985 I flew into Rome, and was frightened beyond belief at the number of Caribineri ( sp? ) patrolling the airport with machine guns in hand, fingers at the trigger. There had been bombings that summer but to me they were an abstract, living in the U.S.A. Abstract no more.

The threats are real, abstract no more. Will I miss my water? Yeah. Will I miss my Purell just as much? God yes. ( for the traveller germophobe, alcohol-soaked handi-wipes are the last resort. Unless those too are confiscated ! ).

Small price to pay to be able to fly. I love trains, but I don’t have many days to take a train to LA from NY.

mlerose, your post is sobering. In the autumn I am flying to Japan. Can you say 15 hours in the air with two small cups of water that are mostly ice? :eek: :eek: :eek:

Cartooniverse

72

So it looks like security propaganda goes through cycles the same way diet propaganda does! “Powder is bad! No, liquids and pastes are bad; powder is good!” “Sugar is bad! No, carbohydrates and fat are bad; sugar is good!”

73

Yeah, that’s exactly what we need on planes—sweat-soaked bodies.

74

You’re assuming that it’ll make you safer, which is not even remotely justifiable for the sort of scheme being posited. Of course, at least a prima donna can sing. My only hope is that the security nazis end up being four-piece chicken dinners when the sky doesn’t fall.

75

Both levels? There may be no “two levels” of security. I have seen no reports of how widespread this practice of hand-searching every bag before boarding is, but it’s not everywhere.

76

For my past job I flew about twice a month for 7 years.
The thing that drove me bat-shit-insane was not the airlines or their policies, but the passengers who wanted to question every policy and push all the rules and argue about why they should be allowed and why the rules didn’t apply to them.

Did you know there is a restriction to the size of carry-ons? It’s about the size of a tiny microwave oven. Then why does every Tom, Dick, and Nancy try to haul on their entire wardrobe and massive duffle bags into the cabin. Then everyone complains about how long it takes to load a plane.
The security checks would move a lot faster if people stopped hauling so much crap with them. And when you get to the security check it’s not your turn to state your case to Judge Judy the security officer why you get to take your toothpaste on board. If you don’t like it write a letter to the airline. Don’t waste my time giving testimony to the bag checker.

And give me a break with the “Every time I check luggage it gets lost”. In my 7 years of travel with various airlines they lost my luggage once. And even then they delivered it to my doorstep within 12 hours.

People seem to think they have a “right” to fly. Well, it’s a privledge and a business. If you don’t like the companies rules and policies then take a bus.

77

This may not be what was meant, but last time I was at the airport, there was an initial passport/ID/boarding pass check as we entered the secure area, and then a carryon baggage check with the metal detector, etc. later on. And then of course there was the potential for the really fortunate to be taken out of line for a more intensive examination.

78

Preach it.

While i think the knee-jerk changes in security policy every time some potential incident occurs are stupid, and that those making the policies should think a little harder before they act, the time and place to question and argue such policies is not at the security gate when you’re about to board the plane.

And while i think this latest banning of water and other liquids is also silly, it will at least have some benefit if it prevents all the fucking idiots from trying to get massive suitcases accepted as hand luggage.

Here’s a hint, morons. If your wheelie suitcase is too wide to be wheeled down the aisle, it’s not fucking carry-on. If it can’t be placed in the overhead compartment wheels first, and has to be placed sideways, it’s not fucking carry-on. If you need the help of two linebackers to lift the thing into the overhead, it’s not fucking carry-on.

Of course, i also blame the airlines. If they had the balls to enforce their own carry-on rules and limits, we might never have arrived at the current situation.

Amen again.

I haven’t flown as much as you, but i’ve flown a reasonable amount, and like you, have only had my luggage misplaced once. And, again like you, it was delivered to my front doorstep about 12 hours later.

If the airline loses your luggage every time you fly, try a different airline.

But “lost luggage” isn’t the only excuse people use. Other whine that they don’t want to wait for their bags to arrive on the carousel. Well, suck it up, crybabies. In most cases, by the time i disembark and walk from the gate, i only have another 10 or 15 minutes to wait before the bags come out.

79

On one flight, I was in the back of the plane, and they didn’t even serve us until about 2 minutes before we had to do the “seat back and tray table” dance before landing. All 4 of the planes were Super 80s and there wasn’t room to go to the galley during or after beverage service.

On none of the flights did an attendant walk through with a water bottle for anyone who wanted refills of water (I always ask for no ice so I get more water in my wee tiny cup) or people who wanted water in addition to their sodas. I’ve been on planes when they did this before and it really surprised me that they didn’t for any of these flights, especially considering the restriction on bringing liquids on planes.

If I’d been on any flight longer than 2 hours I would certainly have been a PITA for the attendants with my water requests. But they didn’t have any extra water bottles on the planes that I could see. Maybe they did stock up the planes that were flying longer distances.

80

So you’re complaining about going an entire 2 hours without water? In future, suggest you “fill the tank” before departure.

What do you mean there wasn’t “room” to go to the galley before or after the beverage service? There has to be some sort of aisle from the front to the back of the plane. :confused: