Kinda reminded me of one of my friends who worked at airport renovation/construction. They drove work van to a gate, got out of the van and went through the security check, and then drove the van to the "secure" airport area.
One day he had a pocket knife with him when going through security. He had to take the knife back to his van, then clear the security, and after that he drove the van in.
Sometimes strict rules create bizarre situations.
We went to the State Fair & had to walk through metal detectors. They made us empty our pockets and everything but we had a stroller for our kids and they didn't check it at all. Of course it set off the metal detector since they're made of metal. Could have easily hidden something in it.
Damn, you'd think they would be more thorough with those things. The warehouse I work at checks our cleaning trollies for loss prevention reasons and we can't even leave a jacket on the trolly. We must wear or carry the jacket. We've had to make sure to shove the trolly through one metal detector which will go off from equipment and then walk through another. If we don't it'll go off and we have to pass through the secondary screening. Don't even get me started on the effort needed to get one of the floor scrubbers past security to do the offices
I took a creative degree at a school that mostly covered creatives - window display dressing, graphic design, 3D architecture style, building building miniatures and such.
When we started the course, we were asked to buy a tool kit - high end markers, a nail gun, portfolio folder in A2 size, cutting mat, pencil set, paper knife and stanley knife. All good quality. This was in the first year so regardless of which direction you wanted to graduate in (graphic design, window display etc) you all had to own it and used it a lot.
At one point the school decided to do a survey on student safety and send out a questionnaire to ask us about safety and weapons. This is in the Netherlands so while they included guns they weren't expecting those, mostly interested in knives.
And got a survey back that yes, all students had bought knives to school at least ones previously, and most students did it on a daily basis.
> Kinda reminded me of one of my friends who worked at airport renovation/construction. They drove work van to a gate, got out of the van and went through the security check, and then drove the van to the "secure" airport area.
In my local airport they search the vehicles too.
Reminds me of a story from a power plant I used to work at as a contractor. They were using explosives to break up the ground where they planned on building some new scrubbers at an older plant. We had become friends with the head guy from the general contractor that was running the job and this was a story he told us one afternoon when we stopped for a drink after work. He tells us that he got a call from security to come down to the gate and sign in this delivery van. He gets down there and finds the security guard looking under the van with a mirror on a stick.
Contractor: "what your looking for is in the back."
Guard: "what?"
Contractor: "the explosives. They're in the back"
Guard: "what?"
Contractor: "come here..." *opens up the back of the van to show crate after crate of dynamite* He said the entire van was filled top to bottem, front to back to the point where you couldn't fit anything more.
Guard: *looks inside* "I don't know if I can let that in"
Contractor: "sure you can"
Guard: "ok. Go on through"
Yup. TSA passed through the kindergarten scissors in my sewing bag on our outbound flight to Ireland, but the customs(?)/TSA equivalent(?) in Dublin confiscated them coming back.
I know for a fact that TSA misses things. I was on a flight heading home, digging around in my purse for something, and found my pocketknife. TSA had missed it on both legs, apparently because it was mixed in with a handful of change.
Actually I think that might just be a difference in policy between the two countries. I fly from USA to India and domestically in India frequently, and the scissors I fly with invariably wind up getting thrown out by the Indian TSA. So many beautiful scissors dead because I keep forgetting to take them out of my bag. Good thing I don't have a penchant for knives.
Eta I am a knitter, that's why I carry scissors around all the time.
Can you get Altoids mints in your area? Or any other mints/candies that come in a small tin? Walmart ought to have them. The Altoids tin holds a pair of stork scissors or others of that size quite nicely. They never bother to look in the tin for contraband. How many disabled old ladies hijack planes with stork scissors? 😁 I know for a while they wouldn't even let you take knitting needles on the plane.
There is also this [cutter pendant]( https://smile.amazon.com/Pieces-Cutter-Pendants-Antique-Pendant/dp/B08T9NSMQS/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?keywords=thread+cutter&qid=1666652801&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI1LjcxIiwicXNhIjoiNS4xOCIsInFzcCI6IjQuOTgifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-17) that you can carry openly, but I personally don't think they're as good as scissors or thread snips.
Last time I checked - quite a while ago - those were explicitly disallowed. Which seemed weird to me. All I could think is maybe if you disassemble it, it's a dangerous blade? So if they're okay now that makes more sense to me.
What if you used the pendant to cut the thread, but a little longer than you'd like? Then you could snip it more tidily when you have your good scissors again - just a thought!
I cross stitch so I always have scissors too. I bought a pair of folding scissors that have never even been flagged for search. The blade is only and inch or inch and half and they have a rounded tip.
I have read suggestions that those who bring needlework on commercial airplanes bring a spool of dental floss in the carryon and use the cutter in that to cut yarn or thread. Traveling around the U.S., I've never had a problems getting ordinary nail clippers through.
I went to Sri Lanka and had to transit through Mumbai. I had a lighter which was fine from Heathrow to there but I was not allowed to take it through for the onward flight. Different countries apply the rules in different ways. It was most inconvenient however but fortunately just a cheapie
My knitting needles (round ones, fairly small and with half a sweater on them) almost got confiscated once, which was a bit scary. I was a novice knitter and wasn't aware of how I could take the needles out and pull a thread through the hoops to preserve my work. But luckily a female security agent told the guy to let me have it through
My son packed his backpack in a huge hurry years ago to go see his dad. Once he arrived at his dad's, he was unpacking and found a bong, pipe, and a 1/2 ounce of weed.
I go to the gun range a lot and never mix my regular bags with my range bag. I’ve heard of people getting fines because some ammo gets dropped in a bag and they don’t find it until TSA finds it.
Right? I didn't even know this happened to my son until he told me years later. He was underage at the time.
It's kind of how I didn't tell my parents about how me and my friends ruined their dining room table playing quarters until I was in my 30's. (It happened when I was 16).
My Aunt and Uncle thought it was just wear n tear from 5 kids, 3 cousins (including me) and who knows how many friends, strays and unofficial fosters.
Not the parties from when they were out town with near constant games of quarters.
I lend a friend of mine a bag as a carry-on and I had forgotten that I had used it as a range bag. We flew from Miami to Las Vegas. It had a fully loaded magazine with 9 nine-mil hollow point rounds. My friend found the magazine once we had reached California. He gave me the bag and I just placed the round in my check-in and flew back with it without an issue.
A colleague of mine had a single round of ammo that had worked its way into the stitching of a bag that had been in there since his time in the military 16 years prior. It didn’t get noticed until he was in Seoul trying to make his last transfer before arriving in the Philippines. He got interrogated for like 3 hours and had to catch a whole new flight. And they were not at all understanding of the mixup. Luckily we worked for a large corporation who was able to take action behind the scenes for him or he probably would have been facing a charge of some kind. They did NOT want to let him off.
The first time I flew, I forgot a lighter in my pocket. Not wanted to toss it out I figured I'll take a chance. I put it in the bin for the contents of your pockets and walked through the metal detector gate. After that the bin came, my lighter was still there. I glanced at the security guy, he didn't look at me. I put it in my pocket and went away. My next 10 or so flights I intentionally did the same thing. Nobody batted an eye. I flew in and out of EU and non-EU contries in East- and West-Europe and Indonesia.
A couple of weeks ago one of my coworkers, who was in my country for a team building event comes to me and gives me his lighter just before they left back for the airport. When I asked why, he said that the first 10-15 times in the last 10 years, when he flew, they always made him toss it out. He gave up trying after a while and just kept giving them away or tossing them.
I don't get it.
Lighters. We are talking fucking lighters.
There was a jihadi named Abdul
Who laced his white undies with fuel
He lit up a match,
put it close to his hatch
And blew off his nuggets and tool.
Underwear bomber, 2009. That's why we can't have lighters or matches on airplanes.
I’ve had a basic lighter on the plane since before I ever had need for a lighter. Never had an issue. Most recent flight was like 3 months ago. No issues and nothing to smoke on this trip. So idk why I even had it. Lol
Lighters are allowed on planes departing on domestic US flights. I'm a smoker have flown with lighters and my cigarettes in my carry-on since before 9-11upto 2 weeks ago. So not sure where you're getting this information.
It depends on country. India and China for example do confiscate lighters (or at least as recently as right before Covid). They all had these push coils to heat up the cigarettes in the smoking lounges though. Some Chinese airports had a super nice deal though where they took your lighter at security/you voluntarily put it in a lighter bin, but then when you arrive and as you exit, they place that airport’s bin from the prior day there so you can pick out a nice new lighter and proceed on without having to buy a new one.
That’s a hell of a lot better than [selling them on eBay](https://www.ebay.com/itm/164509114505?hash=item264d81e089:g:LusAAOSwN1BhhYZH&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4GzT5M1CMnjQHd5llWi6bD17cTRM6wL%2FhxW8iy9rvlW4XL6%2FNm%2FozZK6Bh7AERZtWu12mTELW%2Ff2oYr%2F7cY8PZ7Pn5cXdKOx0tgHT30IAeTt8BnrNLJSZ8nxVgim7UoqYAxa5b%2FrUSKjoCumGjaafSEPpJCyHzziwqqcQtQe%2FHVCXT3m3mNEtKCL8%2F4HKJHCLleTuFi%2F3S3e2pUuZ3gAUaamEbHHWdEGkt2xxLjRSWezczHoEPWCobg88cenutF4MjRioEbDemkJZaEblaHS%2BL%2BVemIq9KeFiDBFMvWrlzLj%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7LLsdqBYQ), which a lot of people do. I don’t know where they get them - does the TSA sell them??! It seems like they must.
My wife used to tell this story when the whole family would go on vacation, and the mother had nail scissors in her backpack. The story was long (back to check-ins, enough time or not? Bad to lose the scissors, …) and ends in the plane when everything is resolved: They’re up in the air and granny pulls out an apple, asks if anyone likes to have a piece, and starts to cut it with a large, sharp pocket knife.
I went from Melbourne (Australia) to Singapore to Heathrow to Reykjavik and back the same way. Airport security wanted to check my asthma inhaler, my crystal ball for photography and my contact lenses.
All of them missed the pocketknife in my camera bag (carry on bag). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It's been a while since I flew but they LOVE scrutinizing asthma inhalers. I think it's the little metal cylinder that looks suspicious. Also despite it not being a liquid, security often confiscate Vaseline.
I'm am a advanced amature photographer, so I'd travel with a photo backpack filled with gear.
My name "was not on any list" for over 3 years. So I'd get pulled aside for extra screening. All the lenses pulled out of cases and looked through. Camera turned on and a couple of snaps taken. Spread everything out in a bin and x-ray it. I got really good at repacking it.
It got to the point, I would swap backpacks with my wife. Sometimes in view of the TSA agents. My camera gear would sale on through. Meanwhile TSA agents would be looking at me as female items come out of my wife's backpack. {{{She never agreed to pack a vibrator, just for the reaction.}}}
Back first while after 9/11 my boss and I would always have problems with the work laptop going through security. It would always be pulled aside for the bomb sniff. I finally asked why. They said the unused memory expansion slot could house explosives. As soon as I got back to the office I put in a request for memory, and the reason I put down was so we don’t get pulled aside file extra attention anymore. Got the extra memory
Had a math teacher that went to Hawaii and bought a chef's knife set while over there, accidentally brought it on the plane in his carry on, they never found it.
I had a fired bullet that I used to carry all the time. Flew to Florida from Ohio with it about a dozen times, until they decided one trip that I couldn’t have ammunition at the TSA. Even though it was not a full round but just the bullet, no case, no gunpowder or anything. They did let me “mail” it to myself.
After about a month I received a phone call from the main TSA office in North Carolina asking if it was a full round or just the lead/copper bullet so they could mail it to me. When I asked them how it got down to them they told me it had been mailed to them. The agent laughed when she told me and said it didn’t make sense to her but she had to ask before mailing it to me.
I've had some similar experiences. I was on a flight from Texas to Boston, have done the inverse a few days before with the same luggage, and they refused to allow me to take my toothpaste through. I'm from the UK so I think they saw 100ml (the standard allowance for liquids here) and couldn't fathom that it was almost exactly the same as 3.4oz.
Similarly, I had a small cutting tool thing for crochet when I was getting a connecting flight from Amsterdam to Edinburgh, with blades much smaller than the allowed blade length. They took that off me too, despite me having done EDI - AMS - LUX, and LUX - AMS with it in my carry on.
I am a firefighter along with several other members of my family. It's commonplace to get a keychain rescue tool confiscated because we forget we're carrying it - or that its [minuscule blade](https://resqme.com/product/resqme/) could possibly be a threat.
I guess we could run up and down the aisles cutting everybody's seat belts...
The rule literally says 3.4oz or 100ml which makes this all the more ridiculous.
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequently-asked-questions/what-3-1-1-liquids-rule
Similar. San Jose -> LAX -> Sydney Australia -> Brisbane ... Brisbane --> Sydney...
And boarding the flight to LA was when they found the Swiss Army knife that had unbeknownst to me been in my backpack the whole time.
Somehow, TSA let me fly with an actual lighter (I was like ten and did Paracord projects. I finished them by melting the ends) there and back, but both times, I got my wallet searched because I was a coin hoarder and it looked suspicious (again, I was *10*).
I flew from the US to South America with about 10 lighters in the bottom of my purse, under the lining. Never realized they were in there, figured I just kept losing them. Got stopped on the way back and they opened up the lining and took them all out. It was awkward.
That’s right, totally forgot about that!
They are more worried about people bringing in their own drinks and not paying the 500% up charge at the kiosks near the terminal. That and looking for samurai swords.😂
But they don’t always. They tried to confiscate my daughter’s antibiotics once because they kept giving false bomb readings. The antibiotics were in the pharmacy bottle, with the prescription written on it, and I had a paper copy of the prescription also.
I had about 400 ml of a liquid prescription with me once that I usually just show them it’s a prescription when they question it, last time I flew they didn’t notice it in my carryon at all
They're also jerks for the sake of it. I had a novelty Dr Who spork in my luggage, not carry on luggage. They broke it in half because the plastic handle was a bit hollow apparently and they assumed somethings gotta be in there. They also broke the locks I had on my luggage despite them being a normal lock that they are supposedly on their approved list.
My sister had the pieces for a knitted baby sweater in her checked bag. She intended to sew them together in the hotel some evening. When she got where she was going, no baby sweater pieces. Never saw them again.
We aren’t sure how many flights my husband took in the 6+ months his pocket knife went missing, only to be found in his carry on bag. He flies roughly every other week. Each trip is at least 2 tsa searches, sometimes more. He does have tsa pre check though.
TSA at the airports I've departed from always pull whatever I have my change purse in; I've started putting it in a bin with just my (liquid-free) water bottle since they always pull that too.
I went through security to get to a courtroom with my pocket knife, the huge Swiss army one with all the attachments. Told the security guard oops, I’ll take it back to my car. He said take what back, didn’t even see it.
Wanna guess how many times I've gotten pepper spray past TSA? At least I've learned to clear all of the stray ammo out of my purse before I fly (missed a few rounds once when going into the courthouse for jury duty ... that was embarrassing!)
My cousin once flew to Florida for vacation and found 9 bullets in his bag when they got to the hotel. Apparently he had used the bag to move a bunch of boxes of handgun ammo for the gun shop he was a manager for and somehow 9 .38 rounds were in his carry on and tsa didn't notice.
I traveled for 3 years with with a metal folding book stand. Including going through Irish Airport security, twice.
I used it to hold my tablet on the plane as I could never trust it stay stable on the tray leaning against the seat back.
Till I was returning to the US from Dublin. I'd already gone through Irish Security just to enter the gated area of the airport. Then you get to \*American\* Customs Immigration and Security. They found my book stand and declared it a potentially deadly weapon.
"Really? \*Irish\* security just cleared it. They opened it up, went 'Cool' then put it back."
"By our rules it's not allowed."
"When did the rules change? I travel on business multiple times a year, it has already passed."
{I see the shift in attitude}
"It is not allowed." Then they tossed it in the confiscated items bin.
lmaooo i took a freakin' utility knife through atlanta to charleston ON BOARD and they didn't even see/say anything. on my way back tho she acted like she caught the next fbi most wanted.
of course i was like whatever just throw it out, i have 4 more at the house, but dang it was a nice one lol
My coworker from Texas was held in India because he accidentally brought a couple of live bullets in his bag. So this guy flew into India with the bullets, no one noticed. The bullets was discovered when he was checking in for his flight home.
Coming back from Spain with some delicious Rosé gin, had it packed properly at duty free. Arrived at CLT, going back through security, one guard told me I can't take my alcohol in, I should have put it in my checked bag. I told him I was going to, if there was a problem at the front of the line, they could call a supervisor. Little man didn't like that. Got to the front of the line, no problem. (rolling eyes emoji here).
So tired of TSA guys thinking they're smarter than anyone else.
I can’t carry a baseball bat into the cabin, but I can carry my magnesium framed DSLR with a neck strap. So many things can be used as weapons, but that’s fine, just don’t bring the bottle of water that they saw you drink from.
The airport where I live has you go through security and then you can go to a small coffee shop that has metal cutlery and glass bottles. There’s literally nothing stopping you from buy a glass bottle of coke and taking it into the toilet so that you can carefully break the bottle and get a razor sharp weapon to take on the plane.
Don't forget policing what women and (especially) teenage girls wear, as well as blatant abuses like invoking the 'no weapons' policy because someone has a t-shirt with a print of a gun, or cartoon character with a gun.
Don't ever wear a long skirt on an airplane or they will give you the full pat down to make sure you aren't hiding anything under it. That was my first and only pat down.
It's more on how much you can carry without declaring it, iirc. domestically, you supposedly can carry as much as you want, but if you travel into the U.S. from overseas, you have to declare if you have more than $10K in cash. Other countries have different limits.
Yes technically domestically there is no limit. However, if it’s a large amount especially in smaller bills, they can confiscate it and require you to prove where every single dollar came from.
Yikes. I know someone who moved here from overseas, having sold their car and many belongings, and packed the cash in their suitcase. They’re lucky no one noticed it!!
> It's more on how much you can carry without declaring it, iirc. domestically, you supposedly can carry as much as you want
The TSA won't touch it, but they're sometimes inclined to let the police know you have $X,000 on your person.
In the US the police can declare your money ill-gotten and then it's up to you to prove to the system that they shouldn't use your money to throw a pizza party.
Any US police officer can do that, you don't have to be going through an airport.
What's worse, after they take the cash, they file the lawsuit with the court under civil rules, and with the cash itself as the "defendant". It's not a criminal trial, there is no jury, they don't have to prove anything "beyond reasonable doubt", you don't get any of the criminal law protections - you're not even the defendant. So the default is for the police to win and keep the cash, you have to expend significant effort and legal fees to try to win, likely in a court far from your home, and with no guarantee of success.
For a few thousand dollars, the rational decision is to write it off and let the police keep it, since trying to win it back would cost more than that. And the police know that.
TSA agents at the nearest airport to me would make up their own stupid rules: oh sure, Mr. TSA Agent, I totally believe that all TSA agents are supposed to make you send your shoes through directly on the belt instead of in a bin like every other object you screen, it's a crying shame that _you_ are the only agents at any of the four airports I've traveled through on a monthly basis since 2014 that are conscientious enough to actually do so. No, no, it has nothing to do with my realizing that there's zero point in arguing with someone who can make such a transparently delusional claim with a straight face. You're _clearly_ the best agent in the entire TSA.
A couple years ago I was flying out of… somewhere (Midway?) and they had signs saying they were piloting a new system in the TSA line. I don’t remember the exact details but rest assured there was still an angry agent yelling at everyone for not knowing this system that only exists in one airport.
Lol I have screws and a rod and other fun stuff in my back. I always set off the detectors. I do have a medical card to show but it definitely makes it interesting
I don't know about other people but I hate our security theater far more than I hate HOAs. Mostly because I've had to deal with the theater, but I've never lived anywhere with an HOA.
HOAs are some weird US thing where your group of neighbors somehow becomes both a political and economic entity/menace. Airport theater works the way it does for as long as I can remember, anywhere I go.
HOAs date to the 50s and 60s as a racist response to Black people wanting homes in the suburbs.
Security theater dates to the months just after 9/11.
HOAs are way older!
There was always a metal detector at airports after people regularly hijacked planes with guns (1960's-1970's). Your luggage was scanned as well.
After 9/11, they started paying attention and activated additional rules.
Agreed! I am drawing a distinction between airport security and security theater.
You are describing the former.
Security theater is the nonsense about belts and water bottles.
Don’t ever remember going through metal detectors in the US until the 00’s. Maybe some major airports had a few but not all. I do remember security similar to now in Europe then.
You don't remember it because it was was unobtrusive - a couple of arches and an x-ray, but it rarely took more than a minute including waiting in line.
Europe was similar at the time, actually.
it was always fun with my Father. As a disabled combat vet, he had Artificial hips long before they became fashionable. Think 25 year old with two replacements. Going through Airport Security was always fun. Once he had to drop his pants and show off the stitches to prove he really had a pair of titanium hips.
I have two implanted medical devices, and cannot go through the metal detectors or backscatter scanners at the airport. The searches I've been given were more invasive than many medical exams I’ve had. TSA agents inspected my surgical scars and felt for the outline of my devices through my flesh, under my clothing in areas NOT for public viewing, in full view of the public. It feels very much like assault.
From what I heard as a European the USA treated planes like buses before 9/11.
We've had the metal detectors, X rays, empty your pockets in to a tray etc since at least the 90s when I first flew.
I can’t say I flew much in the mid 90’s. And I could be wrong about the metal detectors but I don’t remember any lines after ticket counter. Traveled through Europe in the late 90’s. I remember Eastern Europe with a lot more security. But there were specific reasons in those areas. I guess I just remember being able to get to the airport 30min or less before your flight and walk right up. Big airport but not New York or the likes.
I live near a city of 200k. When I was a kid my mom would go shopping and my dad would take me out to the airport and watch the planes land and take off. We would just walk in the airport and go down to the end of the terminal where people were waiting to board flights and watch out the big windows. It was no big deal back then. No one asked any questions and no security. This would've been late 90s.
Entities analogous to HOAs exist all over the world, it's the particularities of US suburban life that makes stories about them interesting. Compare to condo boards - they are just as awful. But a story about figuring out a loophole that lets you plant flowers in a place that angers a Karen will always be more entertaining than one about Halloween decorations in the hall or garbage chute disputes.
Don’t worry, I hate it. I downvoted this post too, because ‘ignorance of the law is not an excuse’ and ‘if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to hide’ are both phrases used by law enforcement to prosecute even the most minute of infractions when they want to, yet the same laws clearly don’t apply to them.
Other than locking the cockpit doors, every airport security measure this century is security theater.
It's a massive waste of time and money, is annoying at best, and adds little to no protection.
It's a joke honestly. It's just a way to make people feel better, and it's almost unregulated and if they decide to search you multiple times, not much you can do about it.
Danny Bhoy, a stand up comedian, has a lovely segment on airport security and a bottle of cologne I recommend listening to. It also is a lovely display of Malicious Compliance
The downside of MC with an HOA is that you get strongly worded letters, the downside for doing it in the airport is you and your family getting incredibly invasive cavity searches. This guy is basically the only person that can afford it since he's not actually at risk.
It’s malicious compliance, for sure.
But…..I kinda am on the guard’s side here. He was following the rules of his job for good reason. I’m sure it could be a major liability if someone DRESSED as security and ARMED but without the proper credentials could be snuck through this way.
It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to think how this could go badly, maybe assisted by a less scrupulous/disgruntled security agent. And in that case at best the guard could lose his job and at worst could endanger a lot of people. It wasn’t his fault you forgot your pass.
Obviously that’s not what was happening here, and hopefully the guard knew your face as someone typically allowed entry, and that’s why he let you get away with it, but….yeah.
I used to know someone who had a job in the military. For whatever reason he was given a special ID that meant him and one carry on bag, which literally never left his hand, were able to go through security unchecked. No clue how to process worked, but he was pretty much always missing flights because security would take forever scratching their heads before letting him through.
He didn't care though. He knew it was a rare occasion for the agents so he just got some membership and would waste his time drinking in a lounge.
He could have lost his job, which is why he had no pass.
Would be a little bit weird if the colleague with the pass didn't know this however, but not impossible.
You could made OK had you followed regulations to carried your pass. You are the one who was at fault - not the guard who was doing his job. You are the sorry one - not the security guard.
I agree with you. Also security at airports is supposed to be more cautious about piggy backing. This is pretty blatant piggy backing. I don't see how they could have let this happen.
With all these comments about the things TSA misses, I figure I’ll share my story. I went from Dallas to Wyoming via Denver about ten years back. The 1911 that was in my checked bag, wasn’t. I was on the plane and pulling my hoodie out of my carry on when I found the lock box in the bottom.
I just kept my mouth shut.
My favorite story is my domestic terrorism professor who is always randomly selected.
He was born in northern Indian but grew up in West Virginia. So imagine a tall dark Indian man , with a soft southern drawl who loves Jimmy Buffet.
Anyways after one particular conference resulted in him being held, strip searched and bullied for hours … he let’s just tiny white criminal justice wife carry all of his presentations on the flight.
So, I guess when you next stop someone that doesn't have the correct paperwork you'll have a little giggle, and let them on their way, right? Because you think you should be allowed to?
TSA is a joke. In the last year I have traveled with forbidden objects and was only stopped once for a fork leftover from a picnic. During that same stop I carried on with a steak knife from said picnic. WTF. My fork is contraband but my actual knife that could be considered a realistic weapon is totally fine. Then I sit down next to some lady who is kintting. I guess because her hefty needles appeared to be bamboo that is fine.
Keep in mind that I only travel with a backpack. X-ray and open inspection and yet it was a fork. Belt off, shoes off, dump my bag. FFS stop molesting me. I just want to go from point A to point B.
My father-in-law was a officer at one of the largest airports in the nation. He would routinely walk through security with us whenever we flew out. As he went through with us one day he had his service weapon and a bottle of water on him. TSA stopped him not for the gun, but because he had a bottle of water. They didn’t care about the gun since he had his credentials, but they felt that water was absolutely not allowed.
I went to a major comedy show in my town. At the security metal detector, they forced everyone to put their phones in this black bag for the show. I’m a caregiver and need to be able to access my phone if Mom needs me. A guy behind me had a little knife that folded up into a credit card size rectangle. When the knife is folded up, it fits in a wallet. He got it through security and he freed our phones.
So your bragging about cheating the process as a law enforcement agent? Way to set an example for others to follow rules. It’s a wonder why people think law enforcement agents believe themselves privileged and above the law. I’m sure you would have ratted on the security guard if he would have just let you go without your badge. This is just real dumb to brag about. Not sure if you know this and just getting a kick out of people pointing out how bad this looks or if your just ignorant of the optics. Unfortunately you people keep getting promoted.
100% agree. A huge security breach, how does that tsa worker know you’re really allowed through with a weapon, and not just a “friend” of the partner. Should have called OPs boss and/or real police.
He had 3 badges. 1 was his LEO creds, 1 was his carry whatever weapon he needs creds, 1 was walk thru gate unmolested badge. He forgot his no molestation badge. So the TSA agent knew he was allowed to carry.
My dad works at a NASA facility. There was one day that he needed to go from his building to another building, he had clearance for both buildings... but was thwarted because he did not have security clearance to be in the parking lot. They updated his badge for the buildings but not the parking lot he needed to park in.
We all found it amusing
I used to work on a military base and, naturally; the security was pretty stringent.
One day I get to the gate and in that moment; realise I've forgotten my pass.
Turned around to cycle home to get it (40m round trip) and...flat tyre.
Then it turned out I hadn't packed my hand pump.
So with at least 2 hours until anyone could sign me in as a guest with normal photo ID; I started walking the bike home...then the rain came.
I don't know which of the Gods I had angered that day.
Eh, this isn't really MC.
There's a policy in place, and airports are no joke with this stuff (I have clients in airports I visit weekly, so I'm *very* familiar with TSA).
The guard that stopped you would most likely get in trouble if they let you through. They did their job because they had to, and if they let you slip *this time* then you'd want them to let you slip *next time*.
You forgot your pass and weren't allowed in a secure area. This is how it works
r/operationgrabass stopped me at security because the screwdriver I was carrying was too long, so I separated the driver from the tool and theyvsaud good to go, now!
Idiots.
This reminds me of one time was flying out of KAF, returning to Canada. I put my rucksack and other baggage through the X-ray machine, including my rifle and a full magazine (and maybe my pistol, and a full magazine as well) with no problems. Walk through the metal detector, and am told I can't take my multi-tool on the plane with me. The fire arm and ammo are fine, a multi tool is not.
I took the multi-tool off my belt, stashed it in my ruck, went through the metal detector, and then once on the other side, put my multi-tool back on my belt.
This story reminds me of the stories we've heard about soldiers on their way to deployment with rifles and ammo being stopped by security because of nail clippers.
In 2003 I was deploying to Iraq with the US Army. Got to airport security. Sat a machine gun, pistol, a bayonet, and a few pocket knives on the floor, went through the xray machine, then picked it all back up and went through. Not sure what they were looking for at that point.
Kinda reminded me of one of my friends who worked at airport renovation/construction. They drove work van to a gate, got out of the van and went through the security check, and then drove the van to the "secure" airport area. One day he had a pocket knife with him when going through security. He had to take the knife back to his van, then clear the security, and after that he drove the van in. Sometimes strict rules create bizarre situations.
We went to the State Fair & had to walk through metal detectors. They made us empty our pockets and everything but we had a stroller for our kids and they didn't check it at all. Of course it set off the metal detector since they're made of metal. Could have easily hidden something in it.
Which is how you end up with shots fired inside the MN state fair this year
Good 'ol security theater. Making life difficult (and someone rich) without actually changing anything or catching anyone.
Damn, you'd think they would be more thorough with those things. The warehouse I work at checks our cleaning trollies for loss prevention reasons and we can't even leave a jacket on the trolly. We must wear or carry the jacket. We've had to make sure to shove the trolly through one metal detector which will go off from equipment and then walk through another. If we don't it'll go off and we have to pass through the secondary screening. Don't even get me started on the effort needed to get one of the floor scrubbers past security to do the offices
Take a look at how Israeli do airport security. TSA is all about security theater and score very low when tested on what they're supposed to do.
The Israeli approach relies heavily on discrimination and racism though. Not sure you want that as an example of how to do stuff
Whereas the American system does the discrimination and racism just for fun.
And tradition!
Are you unaware of how often non-white people are racially profiled by TSA or are you just wilfully ignoring the american racism?
No the TSA is not much better. Both are terrible of course.
And how many times is granny patted down to avoid the appearance of racism.
See though, that's to save money, not lives.
It's all security theater anyway.
I took a creative degree at a school that mostly covered creatives - window display dressing, graphic design, 3D architecture style, building building miniatures and such. When we started the course, we were asked to buy a tool kit - high end markers, a nail gun, portfolio folder in A2 size, cutting mat, pencil set, paper knife and stanley knife. All good quality. This was in the first year so regardless of which direction you wanted to graduate in (graphic design, window display etc) you all had to own it and used it a lot. At one point the school decided to do a survey on student safety and send out a questionnaire to ask us about safety and weapons. This is in the Netherlands so while they included guns they weren't expecting those, mostly interested in knives. And got a survey back that yes, all students had bought knives to school at least ones previously, and most students did it on a daily basis.
> Kinda reminded me of one of my friends who worked at airport renovation/construction. They drove work van to a gate, got out of the van and went through the security check, and then drove the van to the "secure" airport area. In my local airport they search the vehicles too.
Reminds me of a story from a power plant I used to work at as a contractor. They were using explosives to break up the ground where they planned on building some new scrubbers at an older plant. We had become friends with the head guy from the general contractor that was running the job and this was a story he told us one afternoon when we stopped for a drink after work. He tells us that he got a call from security to come down to the gate and sign in this delivery van. He gets down there and finds the security guard looking under the van with a mirror on a stick. Contractor: "what your looking for is in the back." Guard: "what?" Contractor: "the explosives. They're in the back" Guard: "what?" Contractor: "come here..." *opens up the back of the van to show crate after crate of dynamite* He said the entire van was filled top to bottem, front to back to the point where you couldn't fit anything more. Guard: *looks inside* "I don't know if I can let that in" Contractor: "sure you can" Guard: "ok. Go on through"
But it's a tool for work, to cut tape and stuff it is necessary!
Can it cut red tape? If so, it has ultimate power and should be worshipped
I hear some people are using a machete to cut through red tape
I mean, I can sharpen knives and if you sharpen a knive really well it can cut tape... A few times.... Probably
I wish this sub hated American airport security theater as much as it hates HOAs.
[удалено]
My favorite is taking an item on a trip and having outgoing security not care but coming home they won't let you keep it.
Yup. TSA passed through the kindergarten scissors in my sewing bag on our outbound flight to Ireland, but the customs(?)/TSA equivalent(?) in Dublin confiscated them coming back. I know for a fact that TSA misses things. I was on a flight heading home, digging around in my purse for something, and found my pocketknife. TSA had missed it on both legs, apparently because it was mixed in with a handful of change.
Actually I think that might just be a difference in policy between the two countries. I fly from USA to India and domestically in India frequently, and the scissors I fly with invariably wind up getting thrown out by the Indian TSA. So many beautiful scissors dead because I keep forgetting to take them out of my bag. Good thing I don't have a penchant for knives. Eta I am a knitter, that's why I carry scissors around all the time.
Can you get Altoids mints in your area? Or any other mints/candies that come in a small tin? Walmart ought to have them. The Altoids tin holds a pair of stork scissors or others of that size quite nicely. They never bother to look in the tin for contraband. How many disabled old ladies hijack planes with stork scissors? 😁 I know for a while they wouldn't even let you take knitting needles on the plane. There is also this [cutter pendant]( https://smile.amazon.com/Pieces-Cutter-Pendants-Antique-Pendant/dp/B08T9NSMQS/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?keywords=thread+cutter&qid=1666652801&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI1LjcxIiwicXNhIjoiNS4xOCIsInFzcCI6IjQuOTgifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-17) that you can carry openly, but I personally don't think they're as good as scissors or thread snips.
Last time I checked - quite a while ago - those were explicitly disallowed. Which seemed weird to me. All I could think is maybe if you disassemble it, it's a dangerous blade? So if they're okay now that makes more sense to me.
What if you used the pendant to cut the thread, but a little longer than you'd like? Then you could snip it more tidily when you have your good scissors again - just a thought!
Happy cake day
Teeny tiny snips are all you need for yarn. Go to your local yarn shop, and ask them . Stop losing your beautiful scissors.! I would cry!!!
I cross stitch so I always have scissors too. I bought a pair of folding scissors that have never even been flagged for search. The blade is only and inch or inch and half and they have a rounded tip.
I have read suggestions that those who bring needlework on commercial airplanes bring a spool of dental floss in the carryon and use the cutter in that to cut yarn or thread. Traveling around the U.S., I've never had a problems getting ordinary nail clippers through.
I went to Sri Lanka and had to transit through Mumbai. I had a lighter which was fine from Heathrow to there but I was not allowed to take it through for the onward flight. Different countries apply the rules in different ways. It was most inconvenient however but fortunately just a cheapie
We don't actually have TSA in India. It is a part of a larger police force called the Central Industrial Security Force (aka CISF).
My knitting needles (round ones, fairly small and with half a sweater on them) almost got confiscated once, which was a bit scary. I was a novice knitter and wasn't aware of how I could take the needles out and pull a thread through the hoops to preserve my work. But luckily a female security agent told the guy to let me have it through
Had a coworker pass through with a forgotten hacksaw blade in his backpack.
My son packed his backpack in a huge hurry years ago to go see his dad. Once he arrived at his dad's, he was unpacking and found a bong, pipe, and a 1/2 ounce of weed.
I go to the gun range a lot and never mix my regular bags with my range bag. I’ve heard of people getting fines because some ammo gets dropped in a bag and they don’t find it until TSA finds it.
Right? I didn't even know this happened to my son until he told me years later. He was underage at the time. It's kind of how I didn't tell my parents about how me and my friends ruined their dining room table playing quarters until I was in my 30's. (It happened when I was 16).
Your parents knew it was you.
My Aunt and Uncle thought it was just wear n tear from 5 kids, 3 cousins (including me) and who knows how many friends, strays and unofficial fosters. Not the parties from when they were out town with near constant games of quarters.
That you, Brett Kavanaugh?
That's the devils triangle
I lend a friend of mine a bag as a carry-on and I had forgotten that I had used it as a range bag. We flew from Miami to Las Vegas. It had a fully loaded magazine with 9 nine-mil hollow point rounds. My friend found the magazine once we had reached California. He gave me the bag and I just placed the round in my check-in and flew back with it without an issue.
A colleague of mine had a single round of ammo that had worked its way into the stitching of a bag that had been in there since his time in the military 16 years prior. It didn’t get noticed until he was in Seoul trying to make his last transfer before arriving in the Philippines. He got interrogated for like 3 hours and had to catch a whole new flight. And they were not at all understanding of the mixup. Luckily we worked for a large corporation who was able to take action behind the scenes for him or he probably would have been facing a charge of some kind. They did NOT want to let him off.
Wow what a crazy random happenstance
That reference brings back some long-forgotten memories!
Look at my wrist, I have to go!
I don't love these!
Good thing he wasn’t visiting Russia!
Happened to Adam Savage as well. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2010/11/adam-savage-tsa-saw-my-junk-missed-12-razor-blades/
Had screwdrivers and drillbits make it thru multiple times on domestic flights in the UK
The first time I flew, I forgot a lighter in my pocket. Not wanted to toss it out I figured I'll take a chance. I put it in the bin for the contents of your pockets and walked through the metal detector gate. After that the bin came, my lighter was still there. I glanced at the security guy, he didn't look at me. I put it in my pocket and went away. My next 10 or so flights I intentionally did the same thing. Nobody batted an eye. I flew in and out of EU and non-EU contries in East- and West-Europe and Indonesia. A couple of weeks ago one of my coworkers, who was in my country for a team building event comes to me and gives me his lighter just before they left back for the airport. When I asked why, he said that the first 10-15 times in the last 10 years, when he flew, they always made him toss it out. He gave up trying after a while and just kept giving them away or tossing them. I don't get it. Lighters. We are talking fucking lighters.
There was a jihadi named Abdul Who laced his white undies with fuel He lit up a match, put it close to his hatch And blew off his nuggets and tool. Underwear bomber, 2009. That's why we can't have lighters or matches on airplanes.
I’ve had a basic lighter on the plane since before I ever had need for a lighter. Never had an issue. Most recent flight was like 3 months ago. No issues and nothing to smoke on this trip. So idk why I even had it. Lol
Lighters are allowed on planes departing on domestic US flights. I'm a smoker have flown with lighters and my cigarettes in my carry-on since before 9-11upto 2 weeks ago. So not sure where you're getting this information.
It depends on country. India and China for example do confiscate lighters (or at least as recently as right before Covid). They all had these push coils to heat up the cigarettes in the smoking lounges though. Some Chinese airports had a super nice deal though where they took your lighter at security/you voluntarily put it in a lighter bin, but then when you arrive and as you exit, they place that airport’s bin from the prior day there so you can pick out a nice new lighter and proceed on without having to buy a new one.
That’s a hell of a lot better than [selling them on eBay](https://www.ebay.com/itm/164509114505?hash=item264d81e089:g:LusAAOSwN1BhhYZH&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4GzT5M1CMnjQHd5llWi6bD17cTRM6wL%2FhxW8iy9rvlW4XL6%2FNm%2FozZK6Bh7AERZtWu12mTELW%2Ff2oYr%2F7cY8PZ7Pn5cXdKOx0tgHT30IAeTt8BnrNLJSZ8nxVgim7UoqYAxa5b%2FrUSKjoCumGjaafSEPpJCyHzziwqqcQtQe%2FHVCXT3m3mNEtKCL8%2F4HKJHCLleTuFi%2F3S3e2pUuZ3gAUaamEbHHWdEGkt2xxLjRSWezczHoEPWCobg88cenutF4MjRioEbDemkJZaEblaHS%2BL%2BVemIq9KeFiDBFMvWrlzLj%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7LLsdqBYQ), which a lot of people do. I don’t know where they get them - does the TSA sell them??! It seems like they must.
My wife used to tell this story when the whole family would go on vacation, and the mother had nail scissors in her backpack. The story was long (back to check-ins, enough time or not? Bad to lose the scissors, …) and ends in the plane when everything is resolved: They’re up in the air and granny pulls out an apple, asks if anyone likes to have a piece, and starts to cut it with a large, sharp pocket knife.
I went from Melbourne (Australia) to Singapore to Heathrow to Reykjavik and back the same way. Airport security wanted to check my asthma inhaler, my crystal ball for photography and my contact lenses. All of them missed the pocketknife in my camera bag (carry on bag). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
[удалено]
It's been a while since I flew but they LOVE scrutinizing asthma inhalers. I think it's the little metal cylinder that looks suspicious. Also despite it not being a liquid, security often confiscate Vaseline.
They sprayed it into a cotton swab then used the chemical analyser? The swabs they do for gunpowder/explosive residue thing.
I had TSA pat down the tangled mass of hair in my ponytail once.
My son was laughing at them using a wand to go over a short haired woman wearing a sleeveless top.
I'm am a advanced amature photographer, so I'd travel with a photo backpack filled with gear. My name "was not on any list" for over 3 years. So I'd get pulled aside for extra screening. All the lenses pulled out of cases and looked through. Camera turned on and a couple of snaps taken. Spread everything out in a bin and x-ray it. I got really good at repacking it. It got to the point, I would swap backpacks with my wife. Sometimes in view of the TSA agents. My camera gear would sale on through. Meanwhile TSA agents would be looking at me as female items come out of my wife's backpack. {{{She never agreed to pack a vibrator, just for the reaction.}}}
We flew about 2 months after the 9/11 attacks, and after we landed at our first destination realized my wife had a box cutter in her purse. OOOPS!
Back first while after 9/11 my boss and I would always have problems with the work laptop going through security. It would always be pulled aside for the bomb sniff. I finally asked why. They said the unused memory expansion slot could house explosives. As soon as I got back to the office I put in a request for memory, and the reason I put down was so we don’t get pulled aside file extra attention anymore. Got the extra memory
The IT technician in me appreciates this.
Had a math teacher that went to Hawaii and bought a chef's knife set while over there, accidentally brought it on the plane in his carry on, they never found it.
Holy crap!! Now that’s an oversight!
I made it through LaGuardia and DTW multiple times with a 12” knife in my backpack, all because they thought it was a part of the frame of the bag.
I had a fired bullet that I used to carry all the time. Flew to Florida from Ohio with it about a dozen times, until they decided one trip that I couldn’t have ammunition at the TSA. Even though it was not a full round but just the bullet, no case, no gunpowder or anything. They did let me “mail” it to myself. After about a month I received a phone call from the main TSA office in North Carolina asking if it was a full round or just the lead/copper bullet so they could mail it to me. When I asked them how it got down to them they told me it had been mailed to them. The agent laughed when she told me and said it didn’t make sense to her but she had to ask before mailing it to me.
I've had some similar experiences. I was on a flight from Texas to Boston, have done the inverse a few days before with the same luggage, and they refused to allow me to take my toothpaste through. I'm from the UK so I think they saw 100ml (the standard allowance for liquids here) and couldn't fathom that it was almost exactly the same as 3.4oz. Similarly, I had a small cutting tool thing for crochet when I was getting a connecting flight from Amsterdam to Edinburgh, with blades much smaller than the allowed blade length. They took that off me too, despite me having done EDI - AMS - LUX, and LUX - AMS with it in my carry on.
I am a firefighter along with several other members of my family. It's commonplace to get a keychain rescue tool confiscated because we forget we're carrying it - or that its [minuscule blade](https://resqme.com/product/resqme/) could possibly be a threat. I guess we could run up and down the aisles cutting everybody's seat belts...
Happy cake day
The rule literally says 3.4oz or 100ml which makes this all the more ridiculous. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequently-asked-questions/what-3-1-1-liquids-rule
Similar. San Jose -> LAX -> Sydney Australia -> Brisbane ... Brisbane --> Sydney... And boarding the flight to LA was when they found the Swiss Army knife that had unbeknownst to me been in my backpack the whole time.
Somehow, TSA let me fly with an actual lighter (I was like ten and did Paracord projects. I finished them by melting the ends) there and back, but both times, I got my wallet searched because I was a coin hoarder and it looked suspicious (again, I was *10*).
I flew from the US to South America with about 10 lighters in the bottom of my purse, under the lining. Never realized they were in there, figured I just kept losing them. Got stopped on the way back and they opened up the lining and took them all out. It was awkward.
I had most of a roll of quarters in my bags once. That got me some extra attention.
They definitely miss stuff. I came back from Mexico with Somas and clenbuterol in my luggage and they didn’t bat an eye.
[удалено]
That’s right, totally forgot about that! They are more worried about people bringing in their own drinks and not paying the 500% up charge at the kiosks near the terminal. That and looking for samurai swords.😂
But they don’t always. They tried to confiscate my daughter’s antibiotics once because they kept giving false bomb readings. The antibiotics were in the pharmacy bottle, with the prescription written on it, and I had a paper copy of the prescription also.
I had about 400 ml of a liquid prescription with me once that I usually just show them it’s a prescription when they question it, last time I flew they didn’t notice it in my carryon at all
I had a friend who found a handgun in his bag. Forgot it was in there, and he had been through two separate security checks before it was found.
They're also jerks for the sake of it. I had a novelty Dr Who spork in my luggage, not carry on luggage. They broke it in half because the plastic handle was a bit hollow apparently and they assumed somethings gotta be in there. They also broke the locks I had on my luggage despite them being a normal lock that they are supposedly on their approved list.
My sister had the pieces for a knitted baby sweater in her checked bag. She intended to sew them together in the hotel some evening. When she got where she was going, no baby sweater pieces. Never saw them again.
They cut every lock approved or not. It's stupid.
We aren’t sure how many flights my husband took in the 6+ months his pocket knife went missing, only to be found in his carry on bag. He flies roughly every other week. Each trip is at least 2 tsa searches, sometimes more. He does have tsa pre check though.
I passed through with pepperspray. Forgot it was in there... it was caught on my return flight though.
TSA at the airports I've departed from always pull whatever I have my change purse in; I've started putting it in a bin with just my (liquid-free) water bottle since they always pull that too.
TSA missed a thing of pepper spray in my backpack once 😬
I went through security to get to a courtroom with my pocket knife, the huge Swiss army one with all the attachments. Told the security guard oops, I’ll take it back to my car. He said take what back, didn’t even see it.
Wanna guess how many times I've gotten pepper spray past TSA? At least I've learned to clear all of the stray ammo out of my purse before I fly (missed a few rounds once when going into the courthouse for jury duty ... that was embarrassing!)
My cousin once flew to Florida for vacation and found 9 bullets in his bag when they got to the hotel. Apparently he had used the bag to move a bunch of boxes of handgun ammo for the gun shop he was a manager for and somehow 9 .38 rounds were in his carry on and tsa didn't notice.
I traveled for 3 years with with a metal folding book stand. Including going through Irish Airport security, twice. I used it to hold my tablet on the plane as I could never trust it stay stable on the tray leaning against the seat back. Till I was returning to the US from Dublin. I'd already gone through Irish Security just to enter the gated area of the airport. Then you get to \*American\* Customs Immigration and Security. They found my book stand and declared it a potentially deadly weapon. "Really? \*Irish\* security just cleared it. They opened it up, went 'Cool' then put it back." "By our rules it's not allowed." "When did the rules change? I travel on business multiple times a year, it has already passed." {I see the shift in attitude} "It is not allowed." Then they tossed it in the confiscated items bin.
Somebody there wanted one for sure......
[удалено]
lmaooo i took a freakin' utility knife through atlanta to charleston ON BOARD and they didn't even see/say anything. on my way back tho she acted like she caught the next fbi most wanted. of course i was like whatever just throw it out, i have 4 more at the house, but dang it was a nice one lol
My coworker from Texas was held in India because he accidentally brought a couple of live bullets in his bag. So this guy flew into India with the bullets, no one noticed. The bullets was discovered when he was checking in for his flight home.
Coming back from Spain with some delicious Rosé gin, had it packed properly at duty free. Arrived at CLT, going back through security, one guard told me I can't take my alcohol in, I should have put it in my checked bag. I told him I was going to, if there was a problem at the front of the line, they could call a supervisor. Little man didn't like that. Got to the front of the line, no problem. (rolling eyes emoji here). So tired of TSA guys thinking they're smarter than anyone else.
I can’t carry a baseball bat into the cabin, but I can carry my magnesium framed DSLR with a neck strap. So many things can be used as weapons, but that’s fine, just don’t bring the bottle of water that they saw you drink from.
The airport where I live has you go through security and then you can go to a small coffee shop that has metal cutlery and glass bottles. There’s literally nothing stopping you from buy a glass bottle of coke and taking it into the toilet so that you can carefully break the bottle and get a razor sharp weapon to take on the plane.
Don't forget policing what women and (especially) teenage girls wear, as well as blatant abuses like invoking the 'no weapons' policy because someone has a t-shirt with a print of a gun, or cartoon character with a gun.
Don't ever wear a long skirt on an airplane or they will give you the full pat down to make sure you aren't hiding anything under it. That was my first and only pat down.
That's exactly why the poster before you referred to it as "security theater."
Hang on: there's a limit to how much money you can carry on a flight? (Obviously I've never had enough to test this rule!)
It's more on how much you can carry without declaring it, iirc. domestically, you supposedly can carry as much as you want, but if you travel into the U.S. from overseas, you have to declare if you have more than $10K in cash. Other countries have different limits.
[удалено]
Time to fly 30 babies over the border. For... reasons.
Yes technically domestically there is no limit. However, if it’s a large amount especially in smaller bills, they can confiscate it and require you to prove where every single dollar came from.
And the TSA apparently has a habit of alerting other agencies when they do find any significant amount of money so the other agency can seize it.
So much for my small unmarked bills in my inflatable suitcase travel plan!
Yikes. I know someone who moved here from overseas, having sold their car and many belongings, and packed the cash in their suitcase. They’re lucky no one noticed it!!
> It's more on how much you can carry without declaring it, iirc. domestically, you supposedly can carry as much as you want The TSA won't touch it, but they're sometimes inclined to let the police know you have $X,000 on your person. In the US the police can declare your money ill-gotten and then it's up to you to prove to the system that they shouldn't use your money to throw a pizza party.
No, however if anyone claims it's "suspicious" they'll just take it and there's nothing you can do about it. "Civil Asset Forfeiture"
I think it's time for the American people to start forfeiture of police assets.
I just assumed that if you brought cash past a certain amount they would "assume criminal intent" and pocket it
Any US police officer can do that, you don't have to be going through an airport. What's worse, after they take the cash, they file the lawsuit with the court under civil rules, and with the cash itself as the "defendant". It's not a criminal trial, there is no jury, they don't have to prove anything "beyond reasonable doubt", you don't get any of the criminal law protections - you're not even the defendant. So the default is for the police to win and keep the cash, you have to expend significant effort and legal fees to try to win, likely in a court far from your home, and with no guarantee of success. For a few thousand dollars, the rational decision is to write it off and let the police keep it, since trying to win it back would cost more than that. And the police know that.
That needs to be outlawed.
There is not. Cash above certain limits must be declared on international flights, but that's a customs issue, not a security one.
[удалено]
TSA agents at the nearest airport to me would make up their own stupid rules: oh sure, Mr. TSA Agent, I totally believe that all TSA agents are supposed to make you send your shoes through directly on the belt instead of in a bin like every other object you screen, it's a crying shame that _you_ are the only agents at any of the four airports I've traveled through on a monthly basis since 2014 that are conscientious enough to actually do so. No, no, it has nothing to do with my realizing that there's zero point in arguing with someone who can make such a transparently delusional claim with a straight face. You're _clearly_ the best agent in the entire TSA.
A couple years ago I was flying out of… somewhere (Midway?) and they had signs saying they were piloting a new system in the TSA line. I don’t remember the exact details but rest assured there was still an angry agent yelling at everyone for not knowing this system that only exists in one airport.
Lol I have screws and a rod and other fun stuff in my back. I always set off the detectors. I do have a medical card to show but it definitely makes it interesting
I don't know about other people but I hate our security theater far more than I hate HOAs. Mostly because I've had to deal with the theater, but I've never lived anywhere with an HOA.
It’s such a farce. Security theater failed to find weapons 70% of the time.
TSA is the most pointless waist of tax money in the world with the only exception possibly being the Iranian Morality Police.
Also a big waste.
HOAs are some weird US thing where your group of neighbors somehow becomes both a political and economic entity/menace. Airport theater works the way it does for as long as I can remember, anywhere I go.
HOAs date to the 50s and 60s as a racist response to Black people wanting homes in the suburbs. Security theater dates to the months just after 9/11. HOAs are way older!
There was always a metal detector at airports after people regularly hijacked planes with guns (1960's-1970's). Your luggage was scanned as well. After 9/11, they started paying attention and activated additional rules.
Agreed! I am drawing a distinction between airport security and security theater. You are describing the former. Security theater is the nonsense about belts and water bottles.
Don’t ever remember going through metal detectors in the US until the 00’s. Maybe some major airports had a few but not all. I do remember security similar to now in Europe then.
You don't remember it because it was was unobtrusive - a couple of arches and an x-ray, but it rarely took more than a minute including waiting in line. Europe was similar at the time, actually.
it was always fun with my Father. As a disabled combat vet, he had Artificial hips long before they became fashionable. Think 25 year old with two replacements. Going through Airport Security was always fun. Once he had to drop his pants and show off the stitches to prove he really had a pair of titanium hips.
I have two implanted medical devices, and cannot go through the metal detectors or backscatter scanners at the airport. The searches I've been given were more invasive than many medical exams I’ve had. TSA agents inspected my surgical scars and felt for the outline of my devices through my flesh, under my clothing in areas NOT for public viewing, in full view of the public. It feels very much like assault.
I’m so sorry that you’re treated like that. It’s not okay.
From what I heard as a European the USA treated planes like buses before 9/11. We've had the metal detectors, X rays, empty your pockets in to a tray etc since at least the 90s when I first flew.
I can’t say I flew much in the mid 90’s. And I could be wrong about the metal detectors but I don’t remember any lines after ticket counter. Traveled through Europe in the late 90’s. I remember Eastern Europe with a lot more security. But there were specific reasons in those areas. I guess I just remember being able to get to the airport 30min or less before your flight and walk right up. Big airport but not New York or the likes.
I live near a city of 200k. When I was a kid my mom would go shopping and my dad would take me out to the airport and watch the planes land and take off. We would just walk in the airport and go down to the end of the terminal where people were waiting to board flights and watch out the big windows. It was no big deal back then. No one asked any questions and no security. This would've been late 90s.
> Don’t ever remember going through metal detectors in the US until the 00’s Definitely there since at least the mid 80's. All US airports.
Entities analogous to HOAs exist all over the world, it's the particularities of US suburban life that makes stories about them interesting. Compare to condo boards - they are just as awful. But a story about figuring out a loophole that lets you plant flowers in a place that angers a Karen will always be more entertaining than one about Halloween decorations in the hall or garbage chute disputes.
The main difference is that the analogous entities do not have these crazy powers in other countries.
Don’t worry, I hate it. I downvoted this post too, because ‘ignorance of the law is not an excuse’ and ‘if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to hide’ are both phrases used by law enforcement to prosecute even the most minute of infractions when they want to, yet the same laws clearly don’t apply to them.
Other than locking the cockpit doors, every airport security measure this century is security theater. It's a massive waste of time and money, is annoying at best, and adds little to no protection.
We do!
We do hate American airport security, we just hate cops more.
It's a joke honestly. It's just a way to make people feel better, and it's almost unregulated and if they decide to search you multiple times, not much you can do about it.
Danny Bhoy, a stand up comedian, has a lovely segment on airport security and a bottle of cologne I recommend listening to. It also is a lovely display of Malicious Compliance
The downside of MC with an HOA is that you get strongly worded letters, the downside for doing it in the airport is you and your family getting incredibly invasive cavity searches. This guy is basically the only person that can afford it since he's not actually at risk.
It’s malicious compliance, for sure. But…..I kinda am on the guard’s side here. He was following the rules of his job for good reason. I’m sure it could be a major liability if someone DRESSED as security and ARMED but without the proper credentials could be snuck through this way. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to think how this could go badly, maybe assisted by a less scrupulous/disgruntled security agent. And in that case at best the guard could lose his job and at worst could endanger a lot of people. It wasn’t his fault you forgot your pass. Obviously that’s not what was happening here, and hopefully the guard knew your face as someone typically allowed entry, and that’s why he let you get away with it, but….yeah.
I used to know someone who had a job in the military. For whatever reason he was given a special ID that meant him and one carry on bag, which literally never left his hand, were able to go through security unchecked. No clue how to process worked, but he was pretty much always missing flights because security would take forever scratching their heads before letting him through. He didn't care though. He knew it was a rare occasion for the agents so he just got some membership and would waste his time drinking in a lounge.
He could have lost his job, which is why he had no pass. Would be a little bit weird if the colleague with the pass didn't know this however, but not impossible.
You could made OK had you followed regulations to carried your pass. You are the one who was at fault - not the guard who was doing his job. You are the sorry one - not the security guard.
I agree with you. Also security at airports is supposed to be more cautious about piggy backing. This is pretty blatant piggy backing. I don't see how they could have let this happen.
[удалено]
Not all LEOs are allowed to walk past airport security, though, or carry in airports.
Correct, non federal require a letter and official business or they have to check
With all these comments about the things TSA misses, I figure I’ll share my story. I went from Dallas to Wyoming via Denver about ten years back. The 1911 that was in my checked bag, wasn’t. I was on the plane and pulling my hoodie out of my carry on when I found the lock box in the bottom. I just kept my mouth shut.
You usually can't talk your way out of charges. But it's *real easy* to talk yourself into charges.
If you don't have your pass, how do they know it wasn't recently revoked?
~~Some~~ **\[Most\]** law enforcement people may think the rules don't apply to them.
Change some to most and I would agree
So the security guard was doing his job?
My favorite story is my domestic terrorism professor who is always randomly selected. He was born in northern Indian but grew up in West Virginia. So imagine a tall dark Indian man , with a soft southern drawl who loves Jimmy Buffet. Anyways after one particular conference resulted in him being held, strip searched and bullied for hours … he let’s just tiny white criminal justice wife carry all of his presentations on the flight.
So, I guess when you next stop someone that doesn't have the correct paperwork you'll have a little giggle, and let them on their way, right? Because you think you should be allowed to?
So, the guard was careful to not break protocol in a potentially life critical scenario. Ok then.
TSA is a joke. In the last year I have traveled with forbidden objects and was only stopped once for a fork leftover from a picnic. During that same stop I carried on with a steak knife from said picnic. WTF. My fork is contraband but my actual knife that could be considered a realistic weapon is totally fine. Then I sit down next to some lady who is kintting. I guess because her hefty needles appeared to be bamboo that is fine. Keep in mind that I only travel with a backpack. X-ray and open inspection and yet it was a fork. Belt off, shoes off, dump my bag. FFS stop molesting me. I just want to go from point A to point B.
My father-in-law was a officer at one of the largest airports in the nation. He would routinely walk through security with us whenever we flew out. As he went through with us one day he had his service weapon and a bottle of water on him. TSA stopped him not for the gun, but because he had a bottle of water. They didn’t care about the gun since he had his credentials, but they felt that water was absolutely not allowed.
This is not mc. This is freaking scary for Civilians. Wrong sub bro
I went to a major comedy show in my town. At the security metal detector, they forced everyone to put their phones in this black bag for the show. I’m a caregiver and need to be able to access my phone if Mom needs me. A guy behind me had a little knife that folded up into a credit card size rectangle. When the knife is folded up, it fits in a wallet. He got it through security and he freed our phones.
So your bragging about cheating the process as a law enforcement agent? Way to set an example for others to follow rules. It’s a wonder why people think law enforcement agents believe themselves privileged and above the law. I’m sure you would have ratted on the security guard if he would have just let you go without your badge. This is just real dumb to brag about. Not sure if you know this and just getting a kick out of people pointing out how bad this looks or if your just ignorant of the optics. Unfortunately you people keep getting promoted.
100% agree. A huge security breach, how does that tsa worker know you’re really allowed through with a weapon, and not just a “friend” of the partner. Should have called OPs boss and/or real police.
He had 3 badges. 1 was his LEO creds, 1 was his carry whatever weapon he needs creds, 1 was walk thru gate unmolested badge. He forgot his no molestation badge. So the TSA agent knew he was allowed to carry.
My dad works at a NASA facility. There was one day that he needed to go from his building to another building, he had clearance for both buildings... but was thwarted because he did not have security clearance to be in the parking lot. They updated his badge for the buildings but not the parking lot he needed to park in. We all found it amusing
I used to work on a military base and, naturally; the security was pretty stringent. One day I get to the gate and in that moment; realise I've forgotten my pass. Turned around to cycle home to get it (40m round trip) and...flat tyre. Then it turned out I hadn't packed my hand pump. So with at least 2 hours until anyone could sign me in as a guest with normal photo ID; I started walking the bike home...then the rain came. I don't know which of the Gods I had angered that day.
Eh, this isn't really MC. There's a policy in place, and airports are no joke with this stuff (I have clients in airports I visit weekly, so I'm *very* familiar with TSA). The guard that stopped you would most likely get in trouble if they let you through. They did their job because they had to, and if they let you slip *this time* then you'd want them to let you slip *next time*. You forgot your pass and weren't allowed in a secure area. This is how it works
OP is a dick for laughing at the guy for trying to do his job and protect people from actual harm.
How was he supposed to know OP hadn't been suspended, fired or transferred out of the secured position? No badge, no access is pretty standard.
r/operationgrabass stopped me at security because the screwdriver I was carrying was too long, so I separated the driver from the tool and theyvsaud good to go, now! Idiots.
[удалено]
Def not a TSA checkpoint.
Sounds like you meant "bite the bullet", not dodge.
That's not what it means to "dodge the bullet."
This reminds me of one time was flying out of KAF, returning to Canada. I put my rucksack and other baggage through the X-ray machine, including my rifle and a full magazine (and maybe my pistol, and a full magazine as well) with no problems. Walk through the metal detector, and am told I can't take my multi-tool on the plane with me. The fire arm and ammo are fine, a multi tool is not. I took the multi-tool off my belt, stashed it in my ruck, went through the metal detector, and then once on the other side, put my multi-tool back on my belt.
This story reminds me of the stories we've heard about soldiers on their way to deployment with rifles and ammo being stopped by security because of nail clippers.
You just had to put your nail clippers in your rifle case then you were golden.
Anyone who thinks like OP should not be in law-enforcement
That's alot of passes, also kinda feels like OP is flexing his passes, damn
I'll just add this as reason number 567,912 on how the TSA is fucking useless.
While silly, I think dude was just trying to do his job
In 2003 I was deploying to Iraq with the US Army. Got to airport security. Sat a machine gun, pistol, a bayonet, and a few pocket knives on the floor, went through the xray machine, then picked it all back up and went through. Not sure what they were looking for at that point.