Trixie, you might be frightened by the thought of being questioned by Israeli Security, but it would be nothing compared to what your would-be future employer did to one of your fellow teachers.

If I did tell Security in TLV that you had gotten such a package, your baggage would be carefully searched. Not only would it go through the normal scanning but it would be hand-searched as well (just like my hand luggage is searched in the States when I am unlucky enough to get an SSSS).

You would also be wanded -- just like many people are wanded by the TSA daily. Also, you would be questioned. True, this is not done in America -- but it should be. After all of that, you would be allowed to get on the plane.

Compare that to what happened to Kathryn Harrington, a 52-year-old special education teacher from Laurel, Md. She flew to Tampa and presented an unacceptable threat to the safety of aviation by carrying a book with a weighted bookmark.

In Maryland, she was allowed to board but the Tampa TSA was truly on the ball -- they not only found and confiscated the bookmark but called the police and had her charged with carrying a concealed weapon - a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by as much as a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Florida officials dropped the charge quickly but the TSA took over a month before deciding not to give her a $10,000 civil fine.

So if you think that being questioned in Tel Aviv is "frightening to me and way across the line" you might wonder about your chosen career path and what it does to innocent people.

Pickles, I did make a local phone call to Him but He said that if Punki wants my number she has to go through the website. He wasn't very clear as to why -- something about her being an ex-Marine and thus liable to use language that was unacceptable to Him.