i can't even do that flying out of auckland, and the last time i made an international to international transfer in brisbane i had to give up the unopened bottle of water i got after security in auckland. well, i gave up the bottle, but the contents came with me, damn it.

tsa do an amazing job uniting passengers in a shared miserable experience.

edited to add: i don't want to tar all of tsa with the same brush. flying through lax last year i was subjected to being gate searched with the agent (is that what you call them?) quite happily going through all of my stuff right in front of the queue of people boarding the flight. hardly a proud moment given up until that point i'd flown from auckland to melbourne to los angeles with barely time i take a breath. i've never had to use so much self-control in my life to not get smart and ask if he even knew what he was looking for.

on the other hand, i was randomly pulled from the queue waiting to board a flight in memphis to be patted down and swabbed for explosives, and both agents were charming and great to deal with, and even had the decency to bump me up to the head of the line to get on board, so i gained places instead of losing one.