While I understand the significance of the TSA, I’m always irritated by the fact that they are always right. There’s no challenging the TSA. And the worst characteristic of their policies is that they are not 100% consistent at each location.
Pre “liquid/gel bomb” rules, I can recall numerous discrepancies in shoe removal procedures. Some airports let mostly all shoes through, while others made you remove everything – from cowboy boots to sneakers to flip flops. What’s a hoodie at one TSA checkpoint is a jacket at another (and, therefore, needs to be removed).
The human element of TSA screening is what creates this confusion, and I’m assuming, travelers’ frustration with the inconsistent rules.
This week in Dallas, during my 12th flight this year with all of my luggage as carry-on, I learned the following: my small, unmarked container of my hair stuff is a no-no (“fine, take it”), and my clear, solid deodorant is actually a “gel” (or, “close enough to one,” as informed), and needed to be in my small quart plastic bag along with my other creamy / liquidy / gelly stuff. Perhaps I need to refresh my memory on chemistry 101. I still think it’s a solid.
And the unmarked container deal – the simple way around that is reusing marked containers. I have plenty of little bottles of stuff. Who is to stop someone from carrying 3 oz of lighter fluid through security in a little Marriott shampoo container?
I know it’s a character trait of mine – having the last word, being right, etc. With the TSA, for people like me, it’s excruciating sometimes, because passengers are never right when the TSA challenges us.
Pre “liquid/gel bomb” rules, I can recall numerous discrepancies in shoe removal procedures. Some airports let mostly all shoes through, while others made you remove everything – from cowboy boots to sneakers to flip flops. What’s a hoodie at one TSA checkpoint is a jacket at another (and, therefore, needs to be removed).
The human element of TSA screening is what creates this confusion, and I’m assuming, travelers’ frustration with the inconsistent rules.
This week in Dallas, during my 12th flight this year with all of my luggage as carry-on, I learned the following: my small, unmarked container of my hair stuff is a no-no (“fine, take it”), and my clear, solid deodorant is actually a “gel” (or, “close enough to one,” as informed), and needed to be in my small quart plastic bag along with my other creamy / liquidy / gelly stuff. Perhaps I need to refresh my memory on chemistry 101. I still think it’s a solid.
And the unmarked container deal – the simple way around that is reusing marked containers. I have plenty of little bottles of stuff. Who is to stop someone from carrying 3 oz of lighter fluid through security in a little Marriott shampoo container?
I know it’s a character trait of mine – having the last word, being right, etc. With the TSA, for people like me, it’s excruciating sometimes, because passengers are never right when the TSA challenges us.
1 comment:
Just found your post after googling "tsa unmarked containers". I just ran in to this and totally understand. After flying to 4 cities in the past 7 months (including London) with unmarked containers of hair gel, etc., I had them confiscated. Of course, this was a secret rule that I wasn't allowed to know about. The best part is that none of the other TSA people seemed to know about it either. There was just one woman who dictated that it was so - the other TSAs were about to let me go unmolested.
I approached her a few minutes later when the checkpoint wasn't busy. She got really pissed off when I said I had just looked up the rules and they said nothing about that. She said, and I quote, "Those are your rules, we have our rules" while bobbing her head from side to side in that I-told-you-so way that people do on Jerry Springer. I have to admit, I took much delight that I got under her skin that much. When I calmly asked her if I was being rude, she asked another TSA employee to "deal with me". Guess what? He had no idea what she was talking about.
God I love this country!
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