I almost forgot about this until I read Patrick Smith’s “Ask the pilot” column on Salon.com¹. He was writing about the airport security procedure where you have to limit your liquids and gels to 3 ounces and then make sure they’re packed away in a quart size plastic bag.
There you have it: Tiny containers of hand sanitizer in zip-lock bags are harmless and approved. Those not in zip-lock bags are dangerous contraband. Meanwhile, the TSA still cannot justify its methods of confiscation: If certain liquids and gels are taken from a passenger, the assumption has to be that those materials are potentially hazardous. If so, why are they tossed unceremoniously into the trash? At every checkpoint you’ll see a bin or barrel brimming with illegal containers. They are not quarantined or handed over to the bomb squad; they are thrown away. In effect, the agency readily admits that it knows these things are harmless. But it’s going to steal them anyway, and either you like it or you don’t fly.
He’s right. Helaine and I are living proof.
While in Springdale, Utah, Helaine bought some Bumbleberry jam as a gift for our neighbors. It was a little thing. A gesture of thanks for their checking our mail.
She threw the jam in a bag and we proceeded to Las Vegas… where before leaving, I got good and sick.
Trust me, no one was thinking about the jam.
When we got to McCarren Airport for our trip home, the jam jar showed on the X-rays. It was confiscated and then (and I watched as it happened) tossed!
So, I’ll ask the question Patrick asked. If certain liquids and gels are taken from a passenger, the assumption has to be that those materials are potentially hazardous. If so, why are they tossed unceremoniously into the trash?
Glen, Margie and the boys would have enjoyed the jam.
¹ – Of all the sites I frequent, Salon has the worst, most intrusive, P.I.T.A. method of extracting some revenue before you can read the text. I still go, but I’d go more often if it weren’t such a hassle.