Originally Posted by
WillCAD
But the TSOwho picked it up didn't know whether the passenger picked it up and put it in their carry-on, or WIRED it into theior carry-on and set it up to go boom as soon as it was disturbed.
And anyone who picks up something that looks convincingly like a hand grenade when they find it in a carry-on is an imbecile.
In spite of the occasional rah-rah rhetoric about being on the frontlines in the WOT, I suspect the majority of TSOs at the checkpoint don't really expect to find anything truly threatening. They don't really believe there's anything wrong with the liquids they're confiscating (and in the case of the expensive perfume in a 'grenade-like' bottle, they knew perfectly well what they were confiscating).
In the unlikely event that someone does show up with something really nasty artfully concealed, I worry just as much about it being mishandled as I do about it not being caught at all.
Fortunately, I think it extraordinarily unlikely that a real threat will go through the checkpoint. There are too many other gaping holes to exploit, so jaded or inattentive or careless TSOs at the checkpoint don't make me fear for my safety.