Yep, you heard it here first. The TSA (Travel Scare Authority) is now going to requiring all electronic items to be removed from your bag and put through the X-Ray machine. I was in the Cincinnati airport today and during this ‘pilot program’ I was asked to remove all of my electronic equipment from my bag. That meant anything that could be turned on and off. However this pilot program is not ready for prime time because I had an electric shaver in my roll aboard suitcase and a Bluetooth headset in the pocket of my backpack. I failed to remove those items and yet I was not stopped and required to take those out of my baggage.
I got to stand around in line for quite some time because I was behind a family of 5 or 6 that had packed a ton of stuff and I felt rude just going around them, it is just not my way. So instead I heard the TSA guy explain the pilot program that they were doing and how it will become the norm in the future. This is going to cause another inconvenience for us technophiles. For one thins I usually carry a ton of electrical equipment. I have a laptop (that has been the item that has to be taken out of the case anyway, one or two cameras (except for this past week I brought one camera that was uncharged, argh), then I have my GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr, my cell phone, my Bluetooth headset, my iGo charger (oh yeah charges have to come out as well) and an electric razor. The electric razor was a purchase after the whole liquid scare of a year ago.
So here is what I predict will be the next security regulation at the airport. Either everyone get on the plane naked or wearing clear plastic clothes (for sanitary reasons) and carrying clear plastic baggage. I swear we are coming to that point.
When I went to Memphis this summer, the lady in front of me at the Memphis airport was scolded by the security guy for not having her travel size toiletries in the right size baggie. Why don’t they set up a booth in front of security to sell baggies then?
Airplane travel is becoming a huge pain in the butt. I took an Amtrak train from Battle Creek to Chicago last summer, and no one asked to see anything in any of my bags. Should that make me feel better, or worse?
TSA is another one of those services where people take their jobs way to seriously and since they are not really liked nor respected by air travelers. Let’s be honest they are a nuisance and not a deterrent to someone who really wants to cause harm. When you are in a job like that I almost always see the power go right to their heads. The wrong sized baggie, what a crock. Here is a baggie you can see the stuff inside, just let me take my hand cream with me. So ridiculous.
What I love is hearing the 3-1-1 overhead messages as I am sitting at my gate. It is repeated so often so that we learn and obey every stupid new rule that comes out.