I think most of it is related to paranoia and this newfound 'extra' awareness of security in airports. There are many similar incidents where the security agents/FAs seemed to behave rather stupidly. I wouldn't blame them. Now that the entire security screening scenario has been changed (or rather was forced to reach at par with international standards), they will learn to judge better over the course of time. I read about a guy who got detained at arrival because he asked a FA how does emergency exit operate. Though I can only laugh at the dumb guy, that is a lousy reason to get paranoid! While all this superficial security is being showed off (who needs national security guards watching around with loaded guns in airports! They should rather be at the borders of Canada), really needed checks such as x-raying of ALL checked-in luggage and baggage matching is still being avoided.