Originally Posted by
rico567
You got lucky. My brother is a TSA agent at a large Midwestern airport so I get a lot of anecdotes that aren't common on Flyer Talk. One of the first mantras of air travel is "Don't let anyone else pack your bags." And "anyone," in this case may be taken to also mean "girlfriend."
A local TV station recently ran a spot on all the LOADED GUNS that had been in people's baggage in the previous year. This amounted to 1,200 nationwide. This type of offense (and I'm assuming knives would carry the same penalty) carries with it a $5,000 fine and up to a year in jail. Like I said, luck.
(NB: Don't anyone rant at me about TSA. I travel by air, I don't mind being screened, and I want everyone else on that flight screened as well. Don't like it? Don't fly. If people can't remember 9/11 -which seems common enough these days- then recent events in Paris should serve to reinforce it.)
I don't mind being screened. I mind the way it is done. You said no rant, so I won't rant. I don't remember airline security being a problem in Paris. Maybe I missed it.
As for the "Don't like it? Don't fly" let me explain what you are asking me to do. My job, the way I make my living and earn my money, requires that I fly. As in if I don't fly, I don't work and I am on unemployment and food stamps. I am working to change that, and it is slowly coming around. Maybe by 2016.
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I just don't pretend it is security.
Darn, ended up in a rant anyway. So I deleted most of it.