It's my first time posting on this forum and unfortunately my first post will be about one of the screeners at CLT being dumbfounded by two short strips of clear packing tape.

First off, I'm trying to travel carry-on only which I have not done frequently, so my biggest concern is the silly 3-1-1 rule and my fear that some buckaroo will confiscate my translucent solid stick deodorant (after all, if you can see light through it, it has to be a "liquid", right? - but that's another story...).

I'm traveling with a laptop which is primarily used for presentations in a conference room and little else. It's always plugged in when used as such, so to lighten my carry-on load I pull the battery and CD drive from the front of the machine leaving a pair of gaping holes but reducing the weight significantly. These remain behind at the office. I cover the empty bays with crystal clear packing tape (one strip each) to keep debris from contaminating the inside of the laptop.

Apparently clear packing tape is now a sign of something nefarious...

I send everything through the x-ray, complying with all the silly bagged liquid rules, shoes off, etc., knowing full well that it's not the screeners' fault that our legislators are idiots. Next thing I know "Bag Check!" is being screeched from behind conveyor. I'm not surprised, my bag has been inspected (with no resulting violations at all) in the last 3 of my 4 flights.

One of the screeners picks up the laptop and says something to the effect that it needs to undergo further screening. I just wave her off with a "sure, fine, go ahead" as I am trying to replace everything I had to undo for the "conveyor belt amusement park ride".

She swabs it and the magical sniffer machine gives the all clear... Then she stands there with my company laptop in her hands and says that she needs a supervisor to clear it before I can have it back.

??? Huh ???

To their credit, the supervisor came right over and asked what she needed. She says she's "never seen one like this" while holding out the laptop and pointing to the crystal clear packing tape which covers two obviously empty slots in the front of the laptop, and that he needed to approve that it was "OK".

His response? An annoyed "Why?" (I already like this guy)

She says "I've never seen one like this, I need you to approve it"

The Supervisor says, "Why? It's a dust cover."

"Well, I need you to approve it"

"Why?"

"OK, you can go." and she hands me the laptop back.

This had to be one of the silliest things I've seen in a while. It apparently wasn't the fact that the laptop had an unusual configuration (missing the commonly retained batteries and CD drive) but the fact that there was CRYSTAL CLEAR PACKING TAPE covering the empty slots which caused the alert and subsequent refusal to give me back the laptop despite the fact that it passed the additional screening.

On the return trip I removed the packing tape and Voila!, no problems. No "Bag Check!", no sniffer machine, and no supervisors.

Here all along I thought they were going to confiscate my deodorant... silly me!