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TSA wants to test your drink -- at the gate

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TSA wants to test your drink -- at the gate

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Old Apr 11, 2011, 11:39 pm
  #46  
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I don't remember which thread it is in, but there were reports of FTers refusing the drink charade when it first rolled out.. Pissed off the clerks

Personally, I would just walk away, possibly into the airline lounge (if nearby), or find a trash can and dispose of my drink.. I'd love to see a clerk digging through the garbage to test my beverage
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 12:26 am
  #47  
 
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Having passed security, why are they at the gate?

I would save my receipt proving I purchased the drink in the sterile area and politely refuse by asking what was the composition of the 'swab' and its purpose. Absent a logical answer and the insistence of the inspection, I would dispose of the drink while resisting the impulse of pouring the drink over the TSO's head.
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 1:30 am
  #48  
 
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How were they testing the drinks? Holding a strip of paper above the cup or dipping it into the liquid?

What about those cups that had lids on them? Did they make the pax remove it?
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 1:34 am
  #49  
 
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Will they change their gloves before touching a new cup/drink?
Otherwise it would be akin to sharing germs with everyone else in
the room if one takes the cup/drink back from them, ick!
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 6:44 am
  #50  
 
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Just tell the goons that the drink is for a friend that had to use the rest room, and that they can wait for the friend's return to ask them if it is OK to test the drink.

See how long they wait around before they get tired and leave.
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 6:53 am
  #51  
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Originally Posted by TheGolfWidow
Great solution. "Sure, just give me a few minutes to finish my drink and you're welcome to have it." Treat it like they, of course, expect that you want to finish it and will, of course dispose of it...because no decent person would ask for it while you are drinking it.
Yeah, no decent person would. But what about the smurfs?

Originally Posted by Pluma
Just tell the goons that the drink is for a friend that had to use the rest room, and that they can wait for the friend's return to ask them if it is OK to test the drink.

See how long they wait around before they get tired and leave.
You clearly think they have something better to do. Your only hope is that it is near their break time.

Mike
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 6:57 am
  #52  
 
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Just Put it Down and Walk Away

Give it to them. "Contaminate it and it's yours!" should be the policy. After all, if someone contaminates food at a grocer or breaks an item at a retail store, s/he buys it.

We may not be able to charge the TSA for the food they vandalize, but we can "give" it to them.

The object is to shame them. Make them understand that contaminating the beverage is even less ethical than stealing it. Give them your beverage and a glare of mixed revulsion and disdain, then go buy a replacement if you have the time.
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 7:47 am
  #53  
 
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The correct answer is NO. Would you let any random person just walk up to you while you're eating or drinking and touch your food and drinks???? Just because it's some DB in a blue shirt at the airport doesn't mean it's ok. On top of that they have no authority. They are just playing off peoples fears. So until we start standing up against this they will continue to harass people and prey on their fears. Remember TSO's have zero authority.
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 8:00 am
  #54  
 
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I'd like to try:

Stare intently over the TSOs shoulder, pointing behind them at the nearest large group of passengers with an extremely agitated look, and mutter "Oh, my Go...." While they are wandering off to investigate, finish my drink. If they come back, I'll act like it is the first time I've have seen them, or wink and say "Got Ya"....

Last edited by IslandBased; Apr 12, 2011 at 8:38 am
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 8:11 am
  #55  
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I would tell them that they can have the empty cup after I finish my drink. Until then, it's mine, and they can't handle it.

Bruce
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 8:17 am
  #56  
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Originally Posted by ElizabethConley
The object is to shame them. Make them understand that contaminating the beverage is even less ethical than stealing it. Give them your beverage and a glare of mixed revulsion and disdain, then go buy a replacement if you have the time.
Demand that they follow you back to Starbucks or wherever the beverage was purchased, then raise a scene asking Starbucks why the TSA wants to test the drink you bought from them.

Starbucks has more money and more lawyers than most of us. Could be interesting.
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 9:15 am
  #57  
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"You want to TASTE my drink? Is it some kind of a deviated preversion, or do they not pay you enough to buy your own coffee?"

"You want my drink, you buy it from me. That'll be $500, please."

Edited to include Col. "Bat" Guano reference.
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 9:16 am
  #58  
 
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Originally Posted by Wally Bird
Hilarious is certainly one way to describe it; not the word I would have chosen but there you go.

We are accustomed to utterly asinine behavior from the TSA, but this goes even beyond that. Perhaps our DEN spokesperson could enlighten us as to exactly what this is supposed to accomplish. Other than making TSA staff look complete fools. Again.
Here, let me channel our own favorite TSO apologist: "We are doing this for your own safety. We know if we contaminate your coffee with TSO cooties, you will not drink it, reducing the time you will need to spend in the aircraft lav, from which the FAA removed any chance of getting emergency oxygen in a depressurization emergency. Now just go away, shut up, and feel safe, if somewhat dehydrated."

I wonder, can I get a job in Ithica?
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 10:54 am
  #59  
 
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Originally Posted by bdschobel
I would tell them that they can have the empty cup after I finish my drink. Until then, it's mine, and they can't handle it.
Exactly; and plan B (as outlined above) is to refuse to accept it back after they have supersecretscreened it.

Wanna call a LEO ? Go ahead, I'd be real interested to see what crime y'all can come up with. Of all the idiotic, pointless things the TSA does this takes the cake. Oh wait, they probably want to test that too.

Imbeciles. That includes you, John.
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Old Apr 12, 2011, 10:58 am
  #60  
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Originally Posted by ElizabethConley
Just Put it Down and Walk Away
Give it to them. "Contaminate it and it's yours!" should be the policy. After all, if someone contaminates food at a grocer or breaks an item at a retail store, s/he buys it.

We may not be able to charge the TSA for the food they vandalize, but we can "give" it to them.

The object is to shame them. Make them understand that contaminating the beverage is even less ethical than stealing it. Give them your beverage and a glare of mixed revulsion and disdain, then go buy a replacement if you have the time.
Better yet...as you hold it out for the TSO to test your drink, just drop it to the floor followed by an "oops, my bad" (and then just walk away)
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