Originally Posted by
JObeth66
They're both over 18, so "kid" is relative. And they're traveling on their own, so they have no clue how to contact a supervisor, etc. My friend's son called his dad, but his cell phone died so we don't have the entire story, we just know that he wasn't allowed back in the sterile area. (And everyone is agreed that leaving it was incredibly stupid, but apparently smoking is a necessity.
)
An 18 YOA is an adult. If he has a license, but left it at home, it's still verifiable. If he's got school ID, a magazine with a home address label on it and so forth, TSA can easily undertake the verification. They use public and government databases.
There has to be more to this story and it sounds as though the story needs to be completed when the cell battery is recharged.
TSA does this ID verification thing all the time. It takes time & patience, but it's all doable.