SI's Peter King on the TSA...
Not the entire article...
Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week
I've just about had enough with these TSA screeners. First, they tell us to put our toiletries into the Ziploc-type plastic bags, with only liquids or gels of 3.4 ounces or less to be included. So I do that. It worked well enough for a couple of months. Though my contact-lens liquid was 4 ounces, every screener let it go because they knew contact-lens solution doesn't come in a smaller container. So last Thursday, as I was returning from Florida (and by the way, the west coast of Florida is the new New Jersey; the 54 miles from Sarasota to the Tampa airport turned into a 135-minutes stop-and-go odyssey in mid-afternoon), the TSA man took my zipped bag, examined it, and said to me: "It's too big. Slightly, but too big.'' He took the contact-lens solution out and asked me if I wanted to go back to the terminal and put it in checked baggage.
Of course, I want to add 45 minutes to my day! Give me the teensy $3, half-used bottle of solution and I'll go back on the train to the terminal, stand in line, check a four-ounce bottle of this dangerous liquid, then I'll get back in all these lines and come back to see you.
"No thank you,'' I said.
He put everything except the toothbrush and deodorant back in a smaller bag, handed it to me, and told me to have a nice day.
I'll give you a nice day.
But my moment of triumph was pulling the six-ounce bottle of Bullfrog sunscreen out of my back pocket -- I was not checking a bag just to save this sunscreen -- and putting into my carry-on. Small, illegal victories over this anal system of "safety'' at the airports are the best victories.