On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 1:26 PM, Anthony Carrico <[email protected]> wrote: [...]
> Kevin, I'd be willing to bet you a pint of Vermont's finest that you > have personally rushed into an airport and then discreetly stepped out > of line when you realized that you had forgot something, something > innocent, some everyday thing, something almost invisible to yourself in > your little corner of the culture, something dark and dangerous in > someone's mind. A little contraband? A knife in your pocket, perhaps? > Something you forgot until you were at customs? Too much cash? Maybe > your car's inspection sticker was past due when you drove into arrivals? > Something on that magnetic platter? Was it some undeclared crypto back > in the '90s? Something back when you were 18? Come on, 'fes up! And you > are a pilot, you said it yourself, you know airports. > I'd love to take the bet, but I can't honestly say one way or the other. I've flown a lot (commercially) over the last few years both for work and personal trips. The only thing I can remember getting called out for was a computer repair kit in my laptop bag that I had picked up in Boston and was taking back to CA with me. It had several screwdrivers that may or may not have been too long. Anyways, the security person asked me what the purpose of the screwdrivers was (I explained that it was a computer repair kit, that I was sorry for having it in my carry-on, and that I wasn't going to argue the fact if they threw it away) and then he packed it back up in my bag for me, smiled, and told me to have a nice day. I thought that was a bit odd, as I fully expected it to be confiscated. So, thats the only thing that comes to mind. As my wife will attest to I am quite an airhead much of the time, but I can't think of any real airport security transgressions. Ok, after a few minutes of careful though I remembered that my wife has been giving me a hard time about carrying a cigarette lighter in my carry-on for the past couple years and never getting caught with it. But, I just looked online and those don't seem to be listed as contraband... you are allowed to have up to one. I don't know why I even have one though, as I don't smoke. Strange. I did get pulled aside and questioned when flying commercially with a bunch of my pilot stuff (headsets, sectional charts, books) with me, but I expected this in advance. Thats it for me. If I think of anything else I'll let you know :) Kevin
