Checkpoints and Borders Policy Debate - Organic applesauce almost a threat

I almost forgot to share this story.

We travelled out is SEA last week for the holiday weekend. I had various snacks and drinks for my daughter. One thing was a container of organic applesauce about 4oz in a plastic tub with a metal lid.

Well it was put in a machine and the machine beeped red. So the guy wants us to open it so he can waive te wand over it or whatever. I was reluctant to open it since you can't close it after that, which leaves me carrying an open container of applesauce in one hand until my daughter wants to eat it. The TSA guy gives two options of opening it or throwing it away. My husband says fine, he will eat it, right there. The TSA idiot says that he can't let him do that because the applesauce is for the baby. So he wot let us pass with it, but also won't let my husband eat it there and I won't open it. And we have a stand off.

Guy speaks with his supervisor. After 5 minutes I'm ready to walk off without the stupid applesauce anyway. He takes it around the corner and I follow him (mind you he tried to walk off without telling us) waves a magic test strip over it with the lid on and it comes back clean. Hands me the applesauce and we are done.


Fun times!

I almost forgot to share this story.

We travelled out is SEA last week for the holiday weekend. I had various snacks and drinks for my daughter. One thing was a container of organic applesauce about 4oz in a plastic tub with a metal lid.

Well it was put in a machine and the machine beeped red. So the guy wants us to open it so he can waive te wand over it or whatever. I was reluctant to open it since you can't close it after that, which leaves me carrying an open container of applesauce in one hand until my daughter wants to eat it. The TSA guy gives two options of opening it or throwing it away. My husband says fine, he will eat it, right there. The TSA idiot says that he can't let him do that because the applesauce is for the baby. So he wot let us pass with it, but also won't let my husband eat it there and I won't open it. And we have a stand off.

Guy speaks with his supervisor. After 5 minutes I'm ready to walk off without the stupid applesauce anyway. He takes it around the corner and I follow him (mind you he tried to walk off without telling us) waves a magic test strip over it with the lid on and it comes back clean. Hands me the applesauce and we are done.


Fun times!

Good Heavens...that was beyond ridiculous and is truly mindless.

Just amazing. Making the traveling public safe from applesauce. I can just imagine the agent carrying the container gingerly like it was radioactive or something. As a parent of a preschooler, I share your frustration.

My husband says fine, he will eat it, right there. The TSA idiot says that he can't let him do that because the applesauce is for the baby.

Not being employed by TSA, I presume, is the reason I can't follow this line of reasoning?

Not being employed by TSA, I presume, is the reason I can't follow this line of reasoning?

Same logic that says you can't drink from the water bottle you forgot before 'surrendering' it at US airports - but you generally can at non-US airports.

I almost forgot to share this story.

We travelled out is SEA last week for the holiday weekend. I had various snacks and drinks for my daughter. One thing was a container of organic applesauce about 4oz in a plastic tub with a metal lid.

Well it was put in a machine and the machine beeped red. So the guy wants us to open it so he can waive te wand over it or whatever. I was reluctant to open it since you can't close it after that, which leaves me carrying an open container of applesauce in one hand until my daughter wants to eat it. The TSA guy gives two options of opening it or throwing it away. My husband says fine, he will eat it, right there. The TSA idiot says that he can't let him do that because the applesauce is for the baby. So he wot let us pass with it, but also won't let my husband eat it there and I won't open it. And we have a stand off.

Guy speaks with his supervisor. After 5 minutes I'm ready to walk off without the stupid applesauce anyway. He takes it around the corner and I follow him (mind you he tried to walk off without telling us) waves a magic test strip over it with the lid on and it comes back clean. Hands me the applesauce and we are done.


Fun times!

Join the club. I had the temerity to put a jar of anchovie paste in my toiletry bag. The TSO was very confused: firstly because he did not understand how anyone could eat such a thing, and secondly, because of number one, it must therefore have been designed to bring down the plane.

Not knowing what to do, he examined the jar and found it contained 90 grams of paste. This was an import so no US measurements on the label. Latching onto this he loudly exclaimed that this jar was over the permitted 4 ounces and would not be allowed through his checkpoint. I tried to explain that 100 grams equals 4 ounces but this was far too much for his elementary school math. It took a three striper with a conversion program on his iPhone (or an iPhone liberated from a passenger) to allow my 90 gram jar of anchovies to fly.

Same logic that says you can't drink from the water bottle you forgot before 'surrendering' it at US airports - but you generally can at non-US airports.

I've twice used the line "Hold on while I transfer this water to a TSA approved container"... then proceeded to drink it.

Same logic that says you can't drink from the water bottle you forgot before 'surrendering' it at US airports - but you generally can at non-US airports.

In fact, in Germany and the UK and France I regularly hear them inviting passengers to have one last sip before they have to dispose of it (or even to drink the entire bottle if they wish)

That may have to do however with something I posted elsewhere about the moral conscience of screeners and the frustration they feel about disposing of millions of litres of water a day at airport checkpoints (for no valid reason), whilst so many in the world are dying due to lack of access to clean water.

In fact, in Germany and the UK and France I regularly hear them inviting passengers to have one last sip before they have to dispose of it (or even to drink the entire bottle if they wish)

That may have to do however with something I posted elsewhere about the moral conscience of screeners and the frustration they feel about disposing of millions of litres of water a day at airport checkpoints (for no valid reason), whilst so many in the world are dying due to lack of access to clean water.

This US policy of not allowing a pax to drink from a container of liquid at the checkpoint has been defended (on this board and elsewhere).

The defense says that an evil-doer might drink from a container of toxic fluid to allay the screener's suspicions. The evil-doer would drink the liquid, knowing he/she will shortly die from it, but not caring because it is destined to be used shortly in a self-destructive plot anyway.

Of course, no one was ever able to describe a toxic substance that could be imbibed in a non-suspicious manner at the checkpoint and have no serious impact on the pax until after he/she had boarded the airplane.

When it was suggested that allowing a pax to drink all or part of the liquid at the checkpoint before surrendering the rest would offer a slightly greater assurance that the liquid was, in fact, safe (after all, it's about to be tossed in an unsecure bin in a crowded location), we were told that if this was allowed 'everyone' would want to do it and the screening lanes would slow down.

Now Kip Hawley, former head of TSA, has come out and said publicly that the LGA restrictions are unnecessary and should be eliminated. But hey, he's just the former head of TSA, a guy that one would think might have access to all the 'if you only know what we know' information - how could he possibly know more than folks on the frontline or the folks at AOA (Airport Operators Association)?

That may have to do however with something I posted elsewhere about the moral conscience of screeners and the frustration they feel about disposing of millions of litres of water a day at airport checkpoints (for no valid reason), whilst so many in the world are dying due to lack of access to clean water.

I've seen no evidence of such in US airports.

This US policy of not allowing a pax to drink from a container of liquid at the checkpoint has been defended (on this board and elsewhere).

I've seen no evidence of such in US airports.

I posted a few weeks ago on the internet about a conversation I had with a screener at FRA. He was the one who brought up the subject. I had just flown from a non-Schengen location and was connecting at FRA, and had overlooked the unopened 500ml bottle of water in my bag.

(Of course, having a lengthy conversation initiated by a screener, in the nearby presence of his manager, about the practices of his employer, as well as about world economies and morality is not something I ever envision occurring at a US checkpoint)

It was an interesting conversation about the implications of our practices and the reality for so many millions in the world who have no access to clean water.

Of course, this is a different calibre of screener. Airport security is a profession, with requirement such as being multi-lingual, completing certain educational requirements and apprenticeship programs, etc. But I have had similar reactions in other countries. A few weeks ago at LHR I had a last minute change of airline which meant leaving T3 airside and clearing security at T5. The screener there again found my unopened tin of gingerbeer, and again offered me to drink up, and again commented on what a shame it is that these pointless rules are in place.

MUC, TXL, CDG, NCE are just a few other airports where I regularly hear screeners encouraging people to 'drink up' before they toss the bottle.

Same logic that says you can't drink from the water bottle you forgot before 'surrendering' it at US airports - but you generally can at non-US airports.

Last time I flew, I was in the line at MCO when I realized that I had forgotten to empty my Brita bottle, which was hanging from my carry-on. Having 5 or 10 minutes in line, I picked up the bottle and proceeded to drink it. It must have had nearly 700 or 800ml of water in it, so I had to really work to get it all down in time. I was feeling a little bloated and idly wondered if the water I had just quaffed would make a sudden re-appearance while I was transiting the c/p, but I digress; I also had to remove the cap and turn the bottle upside-down to get the last of the water out.

As I approached the split and chose a lane, a TSO directing traffic asked me, "Is that bottle empty, sir?" Of course, I replied in the affirmative, having just emptied it.

Now, why would she have asked me if it was empty? Because she had seen me drinking from it, of course. But if she saw me taking such pains to drink fast, and turning the bottle upside-down to drain the last few drops out of it, why would she need to ask if it were empty? It's kind of like asking someone whom you have just watched eat a sandwich, "What did you have for lunch?"

Flabbergasting.

Now, why would she have asked me if it was empty? Because she had seen me drinking from it, of course. But if she saw me taking such pains to drink fast, and turning the bottle upside-down to drain the last few drops out of it, why would she need to ask if it were empty? It's kind of like asking someone whom you have just watched eat a sandwich, "What did you have for lunch?"

Flabbergasting.

At this stage, why are you expecting intelligent behavior or questions from a TSA employee - an agency that has repeatedly proven incapable of intelligent behavior on behalf of the agency or any of its employees?

The TSA guy gives two options of opening it or throwing it away. My husband says fine, he will eat it, right there. The TSA idiot says that he can't let him do that because the applesauce is for the baby.

Why in the world does it matter WHO eats the food that is not going to go into the secure area??

Just amazing. Making the traveling public safe from applesauce. I can just imagine the agent carrying the container gingerly like it was radioactive or something. As a parent of a preschooler, I share your frustration.And the Secret Service wrestled the applesauce to the ground...... ;)

And the Secret Service wrestled the applesauce to the ground...... ;)

And they slipped in the apple sauce and are now suing the passenger for trying to bring a dangerous item to the plane!

And they slipped in the apple sauce and are now suing the passenger for trying to bring a dangerous item to the plane!

LOL! Ok now that would have at least been entertaining. :D

Why in the world does it matter WHO eats the food that is not going to go into the secure area??

Earth logic plays no role in screening.

Expect BB post anytime: "Hero screener catches criminal trying to deprive baby of nutrition."

Mike

LOL! Ok now that would have at least been entertaining. :D

:D Happy to share a feeling/joke. That made my day:cool: