Letters to the Editor
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Kiev airport
In 2003 while flying out of Kiev, I remember how surprised I was at security personnel's relaxed attitude. First, a man asked us whether we were taking any money or religious relics out of the country (they were apparently unconcerned with weapons), and then our bags went through an xray machine. I'm not sure how the screener knew how to interpret the blob-like images in black and white on the screen (not that it mattered--she was talking to a friend and wasn't paying attention).
When I arrived in Frankfurt, I had to go through security again, but this time the screeners were equipped with impressive, full-color 3-D xray machines. As my bag went through, the screener gasped, "You have scissors in your bag!" She looked quite stern as she removed the blunt child-size scissors from my backpack.
On the same trip, when flying out of RDU (to Frankfurt), I set off the metal detector. The hand scanner revealed something in the area of my chest. The screener grabbed the bottom of my bra and said, "Oh, it's just the underwire in your bra," and let me go. I realized later that the stiff pointy wire, if removed from the bra, would make a pretty good weapon--certainly more effective than the confiscated scissors.
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TSA precursor to the coming police state
Every person that flies needs an explanation from the TSA why 3 oz fluids are acceptable in a 1 quart clear bag but banned in a 2 quart bag. In Philadelphia they are actually making people throw away the small containers if they are not in a 1 quart bag. In other cases they take the containers out of the wrong size bag and put it in a TSA provided 1 quart bag.
I also want to know the purpose of having to hold my boarding pass in my hand when I go through the metal detector. I'm sure that gate agents just love the thought of all those boarding passes that have been in people's mouths as they repack.
I really believe it is all done to condition people to accept a slide towards a police state.
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Why the bag?
To have a place to write Duh.
We should all question the TSA at each and every step of the process, until they start focusing on actual security, and not the illusions. Quiet acquiescence only harms us.
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Guess Salon didn't like the tag-
The bag is a place to write "Kip Hawley is an idiot." and then references www.kiphawleyisanidiot.com.
(Also, Salon? Prohibiting simple href links only does your readers a disservice, and makes you look like you've no faith in your own content to keep people sticking around.)
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Yes. And yet...
JetBlue is the airline I worry about least, in terms of secrecy and customer service. From the spa package for cross- continent flights to their almost excessive refunds for any kind of irregularity (TV out of service over Arizona? Flight arrival delayed? Refund waiting in your inbox.) It surprises me in this era that one airline could do such a superlative job in customer service....
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Purpose of the 1 quart Zip-loc bags
The Zip-loc bag requirement is a tool to limit the amount of liquid brought on board.
Now, I personally disagree with the restriction on liquids--I think everyone should be able to bring as many half-rolled tubes of toothpaste on board as they desire.
But pretending that the Zip-loc bag rule is to make liquids "safe" is disinginuous. It's a yardstick, a measuring tool to limit the amount of liquids. It is not to make the liquids "okay", it is just to measure the amount. That is why they need to be in the bag, and that is why the bag must be the right size. Letting through gallon bags would completely defeat the purpose of the requirement, as would letting through the stray bottles.
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Error
Isn't the term "jury-rigged," not "jerry-rigged?"
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Airport Insecurity
Patrick,
Thank you for writing on the absurdities of airport security. It is a system that effectively instills fear, resignation and indignity in the American public. Kafka couldn't have made it up, but Julius Dorpmüller certainly could have.
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Thank heavens we just started getting ziplocs here
I guess I should be happy that the supermarkets here just started to carry ziploc bags. With holiday season coming up and so many Irish flying to Florida, this will be a welcome relief. /sarcasm
I don't even know if they carry gallon or quart ziplocs here. They're just zipper bags...if they don't have the logo, are they not allowed?
When we flew Dublin to Atlanta in the spring, we were subject to the lovely second security screening, as we had to fly on to Jacksonville. Of course, there are no toilets, and a long long line. And we have a 4 year old with a tiny tiny bladder. When we finally got through (amazingly with dry pants), I asked why the hell we had to do that. "Because security overseas is completely different from security here." Yeah. It's better in Dublin. And that's really saying something, since I've travelled with my Swiss army knife by accident (tho it was confiscated at Heathrow).
As well, flying back from Boston last month, we were stuck in the lovely queue for TSA. Now, I do need to say that we flew from Rockland, Maine, where the TSA folks are nice, calm and incredibly professional. We have to carry our own food as well as liquid medicines and an AnaPen for my son. They allowed what they could, very politely, and also when something was found in my bag (eyeglass cleaner), they gave it to my mother to ship on to us (as our bags had already been loaded on the tiny plane, otherwise they'd have slipped it in to the checked luggage). We fly from there instead of driving the 4 hours cause it's just worth it. The rest of the TSA should take lessons from those 5 screeners in Maine.
Boston was another story. In the long long queue, we were separated from our friend who was travelling with us, as well as the fact that I'm 6 months pregnant (with complications) and was getting dizzy from the heat and intensity of the room. But there was no way to get out of line, nor was there a way to try to move up so i could sit while my husband and son worked their way through the queue. I was almost crying when we finally got through the damn thing. (Of course, things weren't helped when we landed in Dublin the next morning, and all our bags and our son's carseat were not on the plane. But Aer Lingus' recent crappy customer service is a whole different article, isn't it?)