AngryDan,

Most of us travel because it is part of our jobs. If we don't travel, we can't do our jobs as well as we do. Therefor, the people who disagree with you are probably not tourists who get on a plane once a year and wouldn't know the differences in security because they have no point of reference. Being delayed for a half hour or so once a year is no big deal.

For the business traveler, being delayed a half hour or so several times a week, and with the possability that your luggage won't make it, is just not acceptable. If the airlines were 100% accurate with luggage and fast to unload, you would still have a problem with standbys, flight cancelations, etc.

One thing I've noticed - most TSA agents don't actually do much flying. When it's your job or business thats on the line, and you have to cancel meetings because your bag didn't make it to your final destination and the only reason you checked it was because of toiletries, that's a big hit. People get fired for stuff like that, even though it's out of their control.

So, the next time someone gets a bit upset about having to give up water or something, imagine if it was you, stuck on a plane for 3 hours at the gate with nothing to drink. Or if it's a rainy day and you're walking barefoot on a scuzzy airport floor getting mud or sand or salt or dogcrap or whatever on your feet just so someone can Xray your shoes. Little things like that.