Originally Posted by
BubbaLoop
Ron,
First, you are wrong. You should brush every time you eat.
Sorry, that’s not what my dentist tells me. Enamel wear is a significant concern, and he recommends that I only brush after meals.
In this manner, making me "voluntarily surrender" my toothpaste is a cultural violation akin to making a Muslim woman remove a headscarf. It won´t kill me, but is unacceptable nonetheless. Remember that people going through airports frequently come from different cultures and traditions!
A Muslim’s head scarf is a religious observation and is protected under the Constitution of the United States. “Cultural” differences are not. Yet we still search head scarf’s and turbans daily, and if we have concerns at the end of the search the passenger will be given a choice, either remove the turban for additional screening or not enter the sterile area.
Third, toothpaste in the rest of the world is sold in metric weight units, and I have had more than one discussion with a stupid TSO regarding what the volume is of my 100 g toothpaste tube (the smallest size usually available commercially). These people are not even trying to be reasonable.
Go to Walgreens. Toothpaste in significantly smaller sizes is available there, or Walmart, or most airport vendors, or… 100ml IS 3.4 ounces. I’m willing to bet that 100 grams is quite a bit smaller than that. I never was good at metric conversions.
You obviously know the rules, otherwise you would not have posted here. As such, if you continue to bring your 7 ounce tooth paste to the airport, you know the chance you are taking and have no reasonable right to complain.
Sophistry I said, and sophistry it is.