Originally Posted by
CMK10
As part of my job I had to work a month in an electrical supply warehouse. As I was cutting a lot of boxes I carried a switchblade style boxcutter with a six inch razor on it. Last summer after working a shift I drove down to PHX for a PHX-SNA flight. At the checkpoint I took all the usual belongings out of my pockets and went throught the metal detector. When it beeped I went back and took off my watch. When it beeped a second time I realized I still had the knife in my pocket. Luckily I was able to duck back out and throw it away before I was caught with it on me.
Two TSA agents saw me throw it out and when they asked me what I'd thrown away I said "a knife". They debated amongst themselves what to do with me and eventually let me go. I can't imagine what would have happened if they had patted me down and found it. I doubt they'd believe me if I said I forgot it.
This sort of thing has happened to me several times. As a single woman who grew up loving bad Steven Seagal movies and who now lives in a not-so-great neighborhood, I usually carry a knife. Sometimes I forget to remove it before traveling. Many times I've found it when I'm at my destination and realize it went through secuirty without being caught, which is scary.
The last time, TSA flagged something on the x-ray and searched my purse, finding nothing. They ran it again, while I sat humming and staring off into space, completely nonplussed. After a second search, the TSA agent said, "Ma'am, is this yours?", holding up my 4-inch lockblade. My face must've been beet red as I stammered out an apology and told him to just keep it. Oops.
My other idiotic moment was one of the day-earlier-than-I-thought flights. I had booked a Thursday night redeye, at 12:30am...or so I thought. I was at work late Wednesday night, when I checked my email and saw one of the "It's time to check in!" messages. Confused, I checked my reservation and saw that, indeed, my flight was 12:30am Thursday morning. I hadn't packed a single thing for my week-long trip from LAX-CHS, of course. Luckily, I still had 3 hours to make the flight and it worked out, but it definitely put a kink in my poor sister's work schedule as she had to take the morning off to pick me up in CHS a day early.