So the lady made us wait for a few minutes while my daughter, who is 14 and hasn’t been on a plane since she was 4, started getting freaked out. Then she finally got her bag and opened it and searched it very thoroughly while asking us about whether or not she had any sharp objects.
She dresses punky despite loving Hello Kitty and she packed some spiked jewelry, so we thought maybe that was it.
It was not.
It was her deodorant.
The lady pulled out her deodorant, took it over to some special station where she did some sort of chemical analysis, and then gave it back and told us to zip up her case and leave.
Thanks for protecting the airport from dangerous deodorant, TSA! Great job!
My biggest pet peeve about the TSA is how they get all annoyed if you don’t know what randomly selected procedures they’ll be using today.
The TSA deliberately randomizes its security procedures. Different airports use different procedures, and the same airport uses different procedures at random. Sometimes you need to take your laptop out of your bag; sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you need to take off your shoes; sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you can just use the metal detector, sometimes they want you to use the rape scanner.
Which is fine I suppose; it makes sense to leave potential threats guessing. But the real problem is the attitude of the TSA agents themselves. It’s not just that they randomly select procedures; it’s that they get angry about it. Start taking off your shoes out of habit at a TSA line that today doesn’t require it? A community college dropout will soon be by, screaming at you for daring to take your shoes off in line. Start taking your laptop out when they’ve decided that today is a day for leaving it in? Some guy that couldn’t even meet the low bar of becoming a regular police officer will be in your face about it within seconds.
Or when they start robbing people and then committing money laundering
This lady gave me shit for standing “at the other side” of a table that was sticking out a little. I was standing next to it to give my daughter room. I had to back up so that I was technically behind the table. There would have been no way for me to get to the lady from where I was standing or any other TSA employee or equipment. Just ridiculous.
Uh… What’s a rape scanner?
The one that lets them see through your clothing.
Spoiler
The beeping dildo
It’s what I call the Rapiscan systems
https://www.rapiscansystems.com/en/
I just call them the rape scanners.
I don’t think they get annoyed, it’s just that the way they talk is most efficient at communicating in that environment.