Originally Posted by xyzzy
I had the same feeling when leaving SVO2 this summer. They hand inspected *EVERY* item in *EVERY* compartment of *EVERY* checked bag. The inspector was very quiet, pleasant, and respectful. There was no yelling whatsoever. Instead of a feeling of being violated, we were left with the feeling that this was a necessary evil being handled as appropriately as possible.
This reminds me of an experience I had there (Moscow) circa '96. The x-ray caught my Leatherman and they gestured at me to take it out and show them what it was. This I did; I showed them that it was a pair of folding pliers
. No problemo.
I lost that same Leatherman this year at IAH. I got "Bag check!" after accidentally leaving it in my bag. The TSO politely went through the bag, asking me questions about its contents. Just before he got to the well hidden Leatherman he asked if I had one, at which point I realized my mistake.
The TSO actually seemed to do a good job of trying to figure out if I knew that I had the Leatherman in my bag. I didn't know, but he did from the get-go. He offered to let me mail it, but the door to my flight was about to close... so I told him to throw it out.
In this case I can give a ^ to that TSO for his professionalism. This means a lot coming from me, as I really don't like the paranoia that the TSA represents.