Polythene,

I'm laughing with you. This would make a great comedy sketch if it weren't at your expense.

On a more sober note, there is so much confusion about what we allow and don't allow. At one time, I thought it was all written down on paper, but it seems that even some of our managers get wrapped around the axle and forget the whole purpose behind the liquids restrictions. Every night I brief something that I can quote straight out of the SOP (in the event that anyone challenges me on any particular issue). Last night was an exception. I posed the question to my screeners: "How many of you would call a bag check on one or two items inside a bag that were clearly 3.4 oz...or for our European partners...100 ml...or less?" A couple hands were raised as screeners looked at each other warily. I then said, "Don't. You're bogging down my checkpoint with unnecessary bag checks. Use some discretion and common sense." Sure enough, one of my screeners challenged me with, "But the SOP says...." I paused as if in thought, then asked, "Is letting these items through going to bring down a plane? Use your discretion, folks."

By the way, the policy was to allow 4 oz saline solution through and was recently changed to 3 oz on the TSA website. Personally, I think it's a typo because I have yet to see a 3 oz bottle of saline solution; I think the smallest size is 4 oz although someone told me that they do make them in 1.5 oz. I would have let it go.