I had to travel last weekend (bought the ticket before the new restrictions went into effect). I had one minor hold-up (story below).


My take on it is that it's become so tedious to travel (by airplane, that is) that I'll be avoiding it as much as possible. Remove shoes, remove jacket, pack differently, pull baggie out, hold boarding pass, pick up baggie, repack stuff.....I'm exhausted before I even get on the flight.

Anyway, when I was flying out (TPA), I got to security and was "randomly" selected to go through the air puffing machine. I believe the dude was bored and I happened to make eye contact with him. From now on, I'm keeping my eyes to the ground.

Went through that without a problem. Then I unpacked my baggie and put it in a bin. Because there weren't many bins (this seems to be a problem at every airport), I put the baggie, my shoes, jacket and purse in one bin. When it came out of xray process, the guy on the other end asked if it was mine. He took the stuff and asked me to follow him.

Mind you, I'm holding my boarding pass, backpack and shoes. I asked him if I could put my shoes back on and, in a very annoyed tone, said "Make it quick." I decided I could put the shoes on later. I followed him to a table where he took my jacket off of the baggie (must've slipped onto it when it went through the xray machine) and said, "Oh he must've seen this [points to the baggie]." He handed me my stuff and I was on my way.

I felt like telling him, "Didn't you WANT it out of the backpack?" Duh! It just didn't make sense (but that's the TSA after all) -- you've gotta pull it out of your carry-on and that still prompts them to pull you aside?

On a related note, I decided I wasn't willing to pay $3 or whatever it is for water at the airport. I have an 8 oz. Dasani bottle that I got on a Delta flight once and I usually fill it with water at home when I fly. I need water to take Dramamine prior to any flight. I put the empty bottle in my backpack and it made it through without any problems. I stopped at a water fountain once I'd cleared security and filled it up.