good old airport security


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yes, i know there are rules etc etc.

my 85 year old mother was catching a flight to see some old friends. a tiny pair of nail clippers. sorry madam. security descended. they took them from her. for christ's sakes, she is 85 years old. not terribly mobile. though unfailingly polite so i suspect she handed them over and probably then apologised. 

world is safe for another day. 

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They probably thought that she had an accomplice (a very nasty person) to whom she could hand over the nail clippers. 
(whatever happened to common sense?)

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Ha . . . I get stopped in Hong Kong for nail clippers all the damn time.  I've gotten to the point where I no longer carry them in my bathroom kit, I slip them in the outer pocket of my suitcase so they're easy to get out, get inspected, and returned.  Strange!

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Always reminds me of this quote when I go through an airport...not an exact fit but it'll do...

"... I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of two million parts -- all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract." J.G.

 

Edited by ebhead
grammar fix
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Reminds me of my experience six weeks ago at Helsinki airport.  They put my bag through the scanner six times.  Opened and inspected everything in my carry-on luggage, only to eventually confiscate all but one of my lighters.

They managed to completely overlook my Swiss Army money clip with blade, scissors and nail file.

No need to mention that they let my cigar cutters through without comment....

 

 

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Just now, ElPuro said:

Nail clippers aside, I don't think security should be stereotyping old women as safe. 

that is a fair point, of course. tho if you ever met my mother, a more gentle soul, small woman, weekly church-going (yes, sometimes the acorn does fall some distance), literally the never hurt a fly sort and now getting slightly bewildered, it does seem truly bizarre. 

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Same thing happened with my dad, twice.  First time we went to Phoenix he brought his money clip that he's had for decades and has a small blunt blade on it.  It'd annoy someone, never kill anyone.  Nope, TSA said he couldn't bring it with him, thankfully a gal I knew was working at the airport and we were able to give that to her so he didn't have to throw it away,

This year he had a nail clippers with him, which were allowed but he had to take out his toiletries kit and place in a seperate scanning bucket.  Big fuss over though from the other TSA folks, though to be fair the guy that was helping my dad was pretty cool about it.  The other workers I wanted to just knock out right there because they were being pompous douchebags

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31 minutes ago, skalls said:

Same thing happened with my dad, twice.  First time we went to Phoenix he brought his money clip that he's had for decades and has a small blunt blade on it.  It'd annoy someone, never kill anyone.  Nope, TSA said he couldn't bring it with him, thankfully a gal I knew was working at the airport and we were able to give that to her so he didn't have to throw it away,

This year he had a nail clippers with him, which were allowed but he had to take out his toiletries kit and place in a seperate scanning bucket.  Big fuss over though from the other TSA folks, though to be fair the guy that was helping my dad was pretty cool about it.  The other workers I wanted to just knock out right there because they were being pompous douchebags

i did an article for a fishing mag about the bowels of hell, aka terminal 5 security at heathrow. once the mag is out, i'll try and remember to post it. they were beyond appalling, just because they could be. there was no threat, not even nail clippers. they just decided to be human garbage. sure, it might not be a fabulous job but taking it out on innocent travellers is hardly necessary. i was certainly not the only one. the contrast, when i then arrived in miami  - where there were even greater crowds -  was so obvious. in miami, there was no stuffing around by anyone but the security officials were efficient and had things running well. you did exactly what was asked, no argument. in britain, total opposite. chaos of their own making. 

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I'm told by my boss that the TSA in Portland Maine (where the 911 Hijackers went through) are basically the worst types of human scum known to man.  Abuse of power/power trip doesn't even begin to describe what they enjoy to do.

Should be interesting to hear his story about the trip through them in a couple weeks time.  If they actually did something good and caught people maybe it'd be worth it, but it's just one big gross waste of money to keep them doing what they do.

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15 minutes ago, skalls said:

I'm told by my boss that the TSA in Portland Maine (where the 911 Hijackers went through) are basically the worst types of human scum known to man.  Abuse of power/power trip doesn't even begin to describe what they enjoy to do.

Should be interesting to hear his story about the trip through them in a couple weeks time.  If they actually did something good and caught people maybe it'd be worth it, but it's just one big gross waste of money to keep them doing what they do.

hey, not so. they caught my 85 year old mum who knows what she was up to. 

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