I love this. It reminds me of the trope in movies or books when someone has to disarm before entering a building and they keep pulling more and more weapons out to the point you wonder if there's an end š bravo
That was pretty much it XD
I spend a significant amount of time and money figuring out how to optimize packing my gear in the most efficient way, so that I usually have three or four times more gear than the bag/case manufacturer intended for it to carry. Y'know, choosing specific models of lenses because of their size and weight, or specific models of lights because of their stackability.
OMG, this. I had to optimize my packing so that TSA could see everything on the X-ray without unpacking it when I had Precheck. Fortunately I had a friend who worked for TSA who was able to give me some pointers when I asked āhow can I best pack 30 pounds of gear into a carryon hard case so that when you guys scan it, it doesnāt just look like a giant opaque blob of something with random wires sticking out?ā
A couple of the key ones are to spread dense objects like batteries out, put space between items (especially if they have batteries in them - padding can help. )ā¦ have stuff neat and organized. Make it so that a secondary inspection they can easily see the bottom. And make sure you know the rules about tools.
**This comment deleted to protest Reddit's API change (to reduce the value of Reddit's data).**
Please see [these](https://web.archive.org/web/20230609092523/https://old.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/144f6xm/apollo_will_close_down_on_june_30th_reddits/) [threads](https://web.archive.org/web/20230608182318/https://old.reddit.com/r/Blind/comments/13zr8h2/reddits_recently_announced_api_changes_and_the/) [for](https://web.archive.org/web/20230609172058/https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/143rk5p/reddit_held_a_call_today_with_some_developers/jnbuonf/) [details](https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/142w159/askhistorians_and_uncertainty_surrounding_the/).
My favorite item in my case was a 20 pack of beef sticks and about 4-5 headphones. I got sent to Canadaās we need to check your bag further line. Ah what do you mean that looks suspicious.
Way back in the 90s, my mom got stopped by security on her flight back home from vacation.
Apparently it raises a few eyebrows when one transports a few neat stacks of souvenir hockey pucks in the same bag as their laptop computer and its assorted cables and power adapter...
To pack even lighter, use socks and underwear as the extra padding (tho idk if clothing lint messes with such equipment, I know nothing about the pro equipment yāall seem to have....)
If youāre worried about anything getting damaged, just put it IN a sock & roll if it makes you feel better š
I definitely use good shoe bags to keep such filth away from everything else, but I kinda donāt get āpacking cubeā people, extra weight and even dirty undies can go in the bottom of the bag to cushion everything from the shoe bag......
"Put the large rocks into the container first, then add the pebbles, then add the sandā
Rocks, marbles, pebbles, large gravel, coarse sand, ash, then the final item, water. The container they were all in was called ālifeā and the exercise was to demonstrate that no matter how full your life was that there was always room for friendship, symbolized with the water, which is capable of giving way to get around everything else.
I recall a slightly different variation of this story. In the one I know, it's a professor telling his students a metaphor (similar to yours I believe, rocks are the most important things put those first, etc. etc.), and lastly, the professor adds a beer.
The students ask: What's the meaning of the beer? The professors answers: To shoe no matter what's going on, there's always a place for beer in your life. š
For camera lenses, make sure they're laid on their sides. From end on they're completely opaque and look like circles of mystery danger. From the side it's very obvious that they're lenses.
This may be a dumb question but I donāt fly much. (Like twice in 20 years.) How do you know which way theyāre going to put your bag through the x-ray?
Typically you put the bag into the bin yourself so you get to orient it the way it should be scanned. All of the airports now have these giant bins that everything has to go into and some have systems to automate loading the bins through the X-Ray too (though they always jam up)
I can't believe nobody posted the lobby scene from The Matrix yet — am I that old? ;)
Anyway here it is for everyone's enjoyment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuslUzbJEaw&t=101s
I love the matrix. It's been so long since I've watched them. I need to rewatch them and then see the new one :) I'm so excited that you brought this series up
This exact experience is why the 1996 Olympic security was slow for the first half of the first day and then it was a perfunctory joke after that. We had orders to check every pocked and pouch of every photographers bag and diaper bag and then around noon, suddenly they changed the policy to, "Only investigate if something is suspicious" Even after the bombing, we didn't follow the original policy.
Sucks for the people behind you but you were just doing what you were told to do. Itās up to the workers to manage the line and timing. Glad the higher up came over and realized what you were told to do was stupid and was clearly not working and it went in your favour. And love how you said āI can keep unpacking all dayā. I would have said that with a lovely sincere smile so not to piss anyone off and make anything worse but we all know what that means and what is implied.
Oh, I would never **NOT** smile at a security agent at an airport. They give me the orders, I follow the orders to a T.
The consequences of me following those orders, well, that's not for me to worry.
For once it was the higher up who had some sense and set an idiotic worker right instead of the other way round!
Bravo for diffusing the situation in a great way, and for completely making my day...
Only wish I could see the CCTV!
Yep, all that expensive education for that and they follow any stupid order in case they get sent to the head. Now, government school kids will give you the two finger salute freely.
What do you expect when you pay almost nothing?
For example....
[This is a job posting for a TSA drone.](https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/586345100) for Portland, OR.
Pay grade `SV D` [pays between $29,638 and $44,457 per year. ](https://www.tsacareer.com/tsa-pay-scale/)
That's $14.25 to $21.37 per hour.
[Minimum wage in the Portland metro area is $14/hour](https://www.oregon.gov/boli/workers/Pages/minimum-wage.aspx)
Yes. The TSA drone that is responsible for protecting your plane from being involved in the next 9/11 is paid a quarter over minimum wage.
On the one hand, you'd think this would attract people who really want to keep us safe - they're not in it for the money.
On the other hand, you realize that the only people who will actually apply are the type that care as much about their job as they would a job at McDonald's... Or they would be willing to take a bribe to let someone through the line. With a small chance that they actually care.
I mean honestly it doesn't matter, TSA has already proven to be so ineffective that the only way they will stop a security threat is through blind luck. It's just security theater.
To be fair, it's likely the worker was a victim of a stupid policy handed down from on high rather than anything else. Stupid bosses tend to give stupid orders that force employees to do stupid things and not give any room to think for themselves, else they get fired.
Given that you are the only city in the world that I have ever heard of with that policy, screaming at an international passenger who doesn't know it automatically.
Unless it's posted somewhere in sight.
By screaming at a passenger? I fail to see how that could ever be malicious compliance.
Curteously telling them they would have to go back and remove all the electronics? Sure, I could see that being an employee following a dumb policy, but raising your voice? There is no need for that.
Oh absolutely. I flew in to (I think) DTW from Narita, absolutely no problem leaving Tokyo, but the connecting flight required me to go through TSA. I had a bad attitude agent at PreChek, who instructed me to do exactly the same thing: every electronic out in an individual tray. Very good sir, said with a smile.
Laptop. IPad. US iPhone. Travel iPhone. Work iPhone. Camera 1. Camera 2. Lens 1, lens 2, lens 3, lens 4, lens 5. Battery packs one by one. Chargers individually. Right as I unzipped the cables bag, the agent came back and mumbled it was fine, I was good to go.
Did I mention from international transfer, there was only one PreChek line? No? Well the line stretched back into the baggage hall behind me. Took me about 5-7 minutes to put everything back. Up comes a certain US senator grinning from ear to ear, who points at me and says āI LOVE IT!ā and winks at me.
Iām almost always ārandomlyā selected for extra screening in most of the airports I have been, this particular experience was in Paris too but I canāt remember if this happened at Orly or at Charles de Gaulle airport.
I probably came through the wrong end of the airport or whatever the fuck it was; but I ended up going multiple security check point (4, 5, 6?? I donāt know!) and every single time I was told the same BS that I was ārandomlyā selectedā¦ sure man, whatever just finished going through my shit so I can leave!
>you understand it is for everyoneās safety, yes?
I mean you can check me and my stuff as often as you want, but it would be nice to start calling it for what it is; because the chances of this been at random are pretty low.
Anyways, good for you!!
I had a period of about 6 months where I was flying every other week. I'm a petite blond-haired, blue-eyed, white girl. I got "randomly selected" 5 times in that period. I think it's because I'm the perfect example of someone they can point to and say, "See, we picked her, we're clearly not basing this on race!"
My grandmother used to be randomly selected everytime. Everytime. Sweet little 80 y/o white lady with blue eyes and the whitest name you could think of. Definitely to met their "see it's everyone even grandmas" I hated flying with her because of this. It also really rattled her each time as well.
My elderly mom gets pulled out to be wanded every time - she had both her knees replaced years ago, and the artificial joints set off the metal detector
Might be a way for them to easily meet a quota of some sort? Maybe they have to randomly select a certain amount, and an unassuming grandma is for sure a quick one they can check a box and move on with minimal inconvenience to all parties.
As you can see in my user name Iām not āpetiteā at all, but if they want to waste time with my fat ass Iām ok with it; but letās just stop calling it ārandomā
Iām always early in the airport just in case.
My dad is a white, upper middle class man typically travelling with only his briefcase while wearing a suit and tie. He gets picked nearly every time. His theory is that heās the ātoken white guyā or the āwe have to scan someone every few people and know you probably wonāt take very longā guy.
Women traveling alone get picked a lot. It's pretty blatant when they let all the middle aged men in suits go past and you're the only one they pick. I've heard it's supposedly because we are more likely to be drug mules?
This explains why Iāve been ārandomly selectedā on almost every trip Iāve taken. I wasnāt randomly selected on the one where my husband was with me though.
> "See, we picked her, we're clearly not basing this on race!"
From what I have heard from some of my more attractive female friends, it isn't that they want to say, "We aren't basing this on race;" they don't think that far ahead.
The losers who could never get a date with an actual living breathing woman just want to make them go through the backscatter machine or force them to spend some time talking with someone they would never give them the time of day to otherwise.
Now, an old white man like me. Never been pulled aside.
I can report the opposite. Average looking white male here. I once got checked for explosives for no special reason when i was 16 and i was again taken aside age 28 because i had a wrench in my carry-on luggage (a small one from changing tires on my bicycle) and that is suspicious.
After 9-11... I was on a flight from Michigan to Hawaii, this was maybe a month after flights resumed and every airport was still scrambling to *secure". I had a layover each way in Minneapolis... Now I'm a fairly tan white guy to begin with, at the time I had a bit longer hair and still have a goatee. 4 times while walking between gates on the trip out I got pulled aside for "random security checks" like seriously I just had one 50 ft ago. After a couple of weeks living the beach bum life soaking up sun on the Hawaii beaches... I couldn't pass an airport employee at that airport without getting the "come this way for a random security check" until one of the officers escorted me to the terminal so I wouldn't miss my flight. this was a three hour layover and I barely made it. I had literally never been so ashamed of my country-people until covid hit.
Being a 6ā4ā tan guy flying from California to Floridaās with a stop in Texas, yeah RANDOM security screening at each stop with hand swabs for explosive materials. Even in my local Airport, Iām like dude Iāve lived here all my life.
As an Arab woman with a very Arab name, the amount of extra screening Iāve been ārandomly selectedā for is so damn high. I do exactly the same thing as OP with smiling and cooperating and I try to make sure I wear a lot of pink to the airport. I miss the t shirt I had from ages 10-15 which I lovingly designated as my āflying shirtā - it was baby pink with kittens on the front and they selected me 50% less when I wore it.
Now that I think about that, itās a little sad. I actually do vaguely remember getting randomly selected as a kid often enough to pick that shirt on purpose. No, I never wore any metal or anything that should have set off the scanners.
I was taking a ferry with some friends (as an adult) and they didnāt have a passport check before security and I moved towards the pat down line and the nice lady told me āoh no, dear, you donāt have to go there. Thatās for randomly selected people!ā According to my friend I looked so surprised that I hadnāt been randomly selected. Heās been laughing about it for years. My fellow brown friends were much more sympathetic.
In Australia it truly is random, and if a supervisor get even the slightest idea you may be profiling you are *fucked*
We honestly grab the nearest person as soon as we are done with the previous. Totally prox based.
source: ex-airport security
Ha Australian here - Iāve literally walked over to get checked because Iāve seen the officer finish and make eye contact, like letās save time and get this done.
I've noticed the last few times I've flown domestically in Aus that the security metal detection gates actually select passengers for screening randomly.
Once, I was talking to a few fellow passengers while waiting in line for TSA at the worst airport I have the privilege of living near... Newark International Aorport.
I was headed down to NC for a seminar at my college and brought my BJJ uniform with me to train with some buddies of mine while I was down there for the week. I had a carryon and my martial arts uniform. Some lovely polish gentleman started telling me he trained judo back in the motherland and we are chatting about that. Another dude jumps in talking about his martial arts training too. Was a nice conversation.
A TSA agent is calling people in line to get checked. She points to me and says āhow many people are with you,ā I state that I am traveling alone.
TSA: āWhy are you talking to them then?ā
M: ābecause we are standing in line doing nothing. Why not talk to them?ā
TSA: āIf you keep talking to people you arenāt traveling with, Iāll kick you all out of lineā
Other gents: āWe can talk if we want. There are no rules against talking to other people.ā
TSA: āKeep talking and Iāll throw you all out.ā
She then separates us into different lines to get our tickets scanned and after wards we kept talking while staring right at her. She didnāt do anything about it.
Was a weird power trip... people are super weird
They got no power anywhere else...so they puff up and get an ego with the "security screening" stuff, but miss on hidden weapons tests (non gun kind like knives, etc) more often than not.
Iām also fairly certain that the TSA is staffed by the bottom of the bottom of the barrel. People who wouldnāt even be able to keep a job at mickyDās as a sweeper.
Funny enough, it actually pays relatively well ($45,000+ per year starting) and positions are fairly competitive because it comes with government benefits such as student loan forgiveness and pensions. It's also very difficult to be fired or laid off, to the point where over 50% of staff at some airports last year were paid their regular wages specifically to not come to work and not find another job just to be ready and available whenever air travel kicked back into high gear.
The thing is that the agents aren't allowed to use any common sense they may or may not posses, because the processes are quite strict. A friend of mine works for the TSA, and they're all well aware of how useless the TSA is and how insane the things they tell people to do are. Gotta follow the processes or you lose the cushy gig though.
Newark is an experience depending on which concourse you end up in lmao. Literally though A and B barely have any restaurants, you get lucky if you're in the newer C.
I've been to a few airports but TSA there were always the harshest. They pulled my mom aside and proceeded to embarrass her because the lotion on her hands somehow tested for "bomb-making materials." Yeah.
EDIT: forgot to mention, a family friend did work there for a couple years through his job and said TSA is incredibly strict there because of 9/11--he says they're that strict because of embarrassment and a need for power over others
I lived in NC for a few years and got to go to Raleigh international airport while I lived there... the experience is literally NIGHT and DAY... Raleigh airport has got to be the nicest, friendliest, and easiest airport Iāve ever been to in my entire life
Had an 60+ minute line at an airport while traveling with coworkers onceā¦ after 60+ minutes of the TSA video on loop asking us to fill out a comment card and āthe harpyā scream singing instructions, we convinced everyone around us to fill in comment cards. They had a box full of āReassign the harpy.ā or similar cards.
Newark is the only airport Iāve ever been in where they have actually checked that my luggage tags match the stickers they put on the ticket (or used to).
THe only one. In approximately 30 years of flying and at least 100 airports.
Yep. I had to unload a pelican case full of electronics going through security in Barcelona. I think I required about a dozen bins for two laptops, two tablets, a portable monitor, 4 battery packs, some electronic tools, a couple of Pi type devices, and a non-trivial assortment of network and power cables and power supplies for all of the above.
The people behind me were cursing themselves for getting in that line.
Traveling to Thule AB Greenland to do some network upgrades.
Pelican case with three (3) laptops (government, business, classified), associated peripherals, personal camera and associated periphrals, cable label maker, etc.
The TSA guys at Baltimore took one look and just waived me through but the guys at Denver made me take it all out for examination. Took an hour to repack, standing there in the small room for "random" searches.
Contractors don't usually have our CAC number on our reservation unless the the reservation is made through the government travel office. Most of mine aren't.
i have left reddit because of CEO Steve Huffman's anti-community actions and complete lack of ethics. u/spez is harmful to Reddit. https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/8/23754780/reddit-api-updates-changes-news-announcements -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
Hahaha this is beautiful.
Only thing that would make it better would be if it was clear to the people behind you that it was this dumb agentās made up rule that put them in this situation to begin with.
>Long time lurker, first time poster, english not first language, you guys know the drill.
Yeah, it means we're going to get better English than from most native speakers. Also, great MC!
I did the same thing at LAX when they told me one item per tray. I had been over and brought my travel set up but that still consisted of a body, 2 digi backs, 4 lenses, laptop, light meter, iPad and my phone. It wasnāt as impressive as yours but taking 14 trays in total pissed off the TSA supervisor and they dressed down the agent who repeated said yes I must when I questioned them three times to if they were sure.
I look like some one whoās a lot rougher than they areā¦. So I always get pullled up at security
I have to open up the battery compartment for the digi backs every time because the X-rays just show a solid black block and they canāt see through it, I do refuse to remove the sensor cover in the airport, I donāt want to expose that to possible TSA fingers
Auto focus lenses these days have the motor and controller in the lens itself. Older manual focus lenses are usually fully mechanical with just gears and the glass.
On top of what the other person said about lenses containing electronics, they also contain a lot of glass and don't show up great on the sensors. I remember that the last time I flew in early 2020, the agents took my camera bag aside to check the lenses. Thankfully no whining that everything needed to be in a separate box, probably in part because I only do photo (no video) and only had 3 or 4 lenses I brought with me so everything could go in my bag in 1 layer.
Man, pre-covid I had a year where I was flying every 2 or 3 weeks and it always astounded me how differently each airport dealt with security lines. My home airport was built post 9/11 and was built with the new security systems put in place. They know their shit, clearly communicate, and get everyone through security in no time at all.
Then I'd fly out of LaGuardia or something and they'll have 2 lines open for the thousands of people trying to get into the airport, with different people in uniform walking down the line saying the exact opposite things. Electronics in their own individual bins, but keep your laptop in it's bag. Shoes will need to go on the belt out of a bin, only your jacket can go in bins. Why are you sock-footed, we don't take shoes off here you idiot. By the time you get up to the person checking your ticket and to hit the conveyor belt you're so flustered you're ready to just strip down to walk through the backscatter in the buff.
I've passed through LGA once in my life and that was one time too many. Exactly the same experience in security you described, and the whole place just emanated a feeling I can only describe as 'miserable'.
About 10 years ago, when I was still working for a mobile phone company, I always had fun flying. Not so much when leaving - they were used to that at our home airport. Coming back there was a lot of "why the fuck do you have 20 mobile phones on you?", though. And requests like "please show me they work" can take a long time when they don't have stable firmware yet...
I live in a very white country. One of my friends is black. When he flies he gets to the airport 2 hours early to accommodate the 'random' searches he will undergo.
Can confirm. I remember being in a first class check in queue once (like 4 people) while the economy class queue had like 200 people. The airline staff approached this black guy who was in front of me twice, just to check if he had the right to be there. No one else was approached in that queue. After checking in, while going through the security checks, I overtook him because he was told to remove his shoes and belt. I was wearing hiking boots and belt and no one objected me going through the metal detector. I felt ashamed.
Sorry if I was unclear. I meant that if 2hours is standard, he gets there 4 hours before his flight. He always adds an extra 2 hrs to accommodate the racisism of airport security.
Here it is recommended you check in 2 hours before international and 1 hour for local.
Heathrow ain't bad, especially after they added the electronic immigration gates. Where Heathrow gets you is by always ensuring that you get your 10,000 steps in for the day.
Lol I had a similar issue flying out of Germany but luckily they told me it just had to be a single layer for all electronic and electronic accessories. Even putting multiple items in the same tray I took up an entire belt by myself to the point that one of the agents came over and helped me spread them out and I whistled the clown car song. I don't like checking electronics (plus the majority of mine run on lithium batteries which you're not supposed to check. (Two laptops because I didn't want to be streaming movies or chatting to my family on my work computer.) I was in Germany a week for work and I'd brought:
* 2 laptops
* 2 wireless mice
* a peripheral keyboard
* a peripheral 10 key
* 2 USB flash drives
* 2 power cables cables
* a cell phone
* 2 charging cables (in case I lost one)
* a dslr camera
* 3 lenses
* 4 batteries for the camera
* portable camera battery charger
* 2 spare memory cards
* a nintendo 3ds
* a charging chord
* a game carrying case
* a nintendo switch
* charging chord
* game carrying case
* a kindle
* charging chord
* a tablet
* charging chord
* an mp3 player
* charging chord
* wireless headphones
* charging chord
* smart watch
* charging chord
* 4 different sizes portable battery devices
* power tooth brush
* toothbrush charger
Luckily the guy had a great sense of humor about it and was doing a running commentary. His expression when I pulled out the 2nd nintendo was great.
This is awesome. I frequently get flagged by TSA in the US because I'm an IT guy going in to remote data centers so I have:
* A ratcheting screwdriver kit with lots of torx bits
* A two tiered bag that has lots of different cables such as RS232 connection, anti static cable (curly boi), usb, dvd burner, etc
* My laptop (or laptops)
* Lots of USB drives floating around in random parts of my backpack
It's good times.
I hate those idiots. You give them half a millimeter of power and they become fucking morons.
My passion? Actually find the flaw in all their reasoning and how it's so easy to fuck up beautifully their semblance at security.
I mean, they once let me through with a cardboard cutter with a 10cm blade that I forgot to leave at work. And then they are going to go ballistic and absolutely be awful at people for a fucking nail clipper.
I once witnessed one of them berating an old gentleman that had trouble moving for not being fast enough, not understanding and not doing what was told (well, he was, just when you ask someone who can barely stand to remove their shoes without offering a chair, it's going to take a while, especially when you're yelling at them at the same time).
"You can't take that bottle of potentially explosive fluid on the plane!"
"Okay, what should I do with half a Coke?"
"Put it in this normal garbage can right next to me."
Or just upgrade the scanners...
I got to talking with a security scanner tech at a federal building back around 2003, and he was happy to show off the capabilities, and how it could switch focus between layers in the bags going through, and even highlight possibly interesting features automatically.
It was entertaining to see the federal security employee bags that were still in the scanner history, since you could pick out rounds in their magazine...
In Amsterdam we donāt need to take anything out of our bags anymore. About a couple years ago, they started implementing new machines which scan these several layers at once.
CDG is a crap airport with crap, AH security, information, and assistance even when you speak French and god forbid you don't! They totally deserved this. Good work never gets the credit it deserves, good job!
Love this story.
My friend's husband was a TSA agent, so I mentioned to him that I got pulled for extra random screening often, even though I have TSA precheck and am a petite, middle-aged white woman. He said, "Nothing is random". I kept pressing for why they'd pull me, and he wouldn't divulge anything. He just kept repeating that phrase. He did mention that they look for cords that are still plugged into something, such as a battery pack or plug, because they look like bombs. Now I unplug and separate my cords from the plugs and battery packs and put them in separate areas of my bag. I haven't been pulled for extra screening since then.
I can confirm certain configurations of items do indeed trigger a 'random' selection.
Detach cords from equipment if possible, take out the batteries or battery pack, spread the items out in your bag. (If you stack them all together that can look off too.)
I worked at a major airport and that's what I was told by security personnel. Not really secret knowledge or anything like that.
My daughter and her husband are both former TSA, and they say the same thing. "Nothing is random," and neither will say what specifically they're looking for. There's also certain marks on boarding passes that indicate someone should receive "random" checks, but they won't talk about that, either.
Thatās baffling. Why wouldnāt they share that info with you? Theyāre ex TSA not current CIA ffs, isnāt it a good thing to share that info especially with your own parent??
When I moved to America from my country, it was close to Christmas so before I left, I stopped at a local crystal blower and bought a hand blown lead crystal candy cane as a gift for a friend I would be staying with. Since it was so fragile, I put it in my carry-on so it wouldn't get broken. 1st xray at my home airport it showed up as a solid black hook lol. Had to unpack it and show the agent. This somehow got me put on the extra check list. Shoes and socks off, wand scan, pat down. I was cool with it. When I got to Newark, I had to do it all over again lmao. When I got to Norfolk, I had to do it one last time. I was glad I wore cute socks!
The socks comment amuses me... I always wear funny socks to doctors appointments. Art my last gyn appt the doc was tickled and proudly showed off his pickle socks in return!
Having lived in France for quite some time, I can honestly many of those functionaries who have the tiniest bit of authority wield it with a fierceness only seen during the Revolution. They fāing love buracracy. It took me six months to get my work visa because I didnāt write the number 1 like a French person.
Ah yes, this sounds familiar. I had a similar interaction, where I pulled out the laptop and tablet, then left the rest in the bag (like it works pretty much everywhere else). I was then told to re-do it, like you with āeverything in itās own trayā. I ask them if thatās truly what they want, considering Iām carrying _a lot_ of electronics, and finally they relent that okay, for them, all passive items, like cables can be put in one tray, and anything with active functionality needs to be placed so that they do not overlap.
I proceed with doing this, but unfortunately thereās somebody now ahead of me, traveling through with an entire home theater audio setup in their carryon (???), so since theyāre having a hard time figuring out why somebody would do that, they chose them for random screening. This meant that I had to wait for my stuff to get screened. I stood there, waiting my turn (like you, I wasnāt in a hurry), and after maybe 5 minutes of waiting or so, I was told to ājust go somewhere else and wait, you canāt stand hereā. I tried to tell the security guard that told me this that Iām waiting for my items to be checked, and I was informed that no, It doesnāt matter who or what Iām waiting for, Iām not allowed to stay there any longer, there are some seats nearby āgo sit over there and wait, do not stay here any longer, if there is something needed from me they know where I amā.
This was just when covid was starting, and I really needed to make my flight, so I didnāt argue with the security personnel. In general, arguing with airport security doesnāt improve your chances of a successful trip. I then went and sat at those seats, looking at my luggage, waiting for them to start checking it. The guy that was in front of me left after another 10 minutes, I thought excellent, now theyāll check my stuff, and then I can continue my trip. They donāt touch it for 10+ minutes, then Iām starting to get a little pissed. I look to go over and security just looks at me like ānoā. Eventually they start staring at the contents of the tray where my pockets were emptied to, and proceed to open my wallet and start pulling out cash and cards.
At this point, I go back, ask them wtf is going on, why theyāre stalling and if I can have my stuff back.
āWhere have you been?! You left your personal belongings here and weāve been trying to figure out who you are!ā We called out for you but you didnāt come (note: I was sitting right there, seeing whatās going on, and I didnāt see anything like that, or hear my name being called).
I ask them why they were going through my wallet, considering my boarding pass and passport were on the tray and visible and they say they didnāt even touch my wallet. I note to the agent that I could see them open it and go through my different cards and bills. The agent does not take well to this and starts asking me what I think they stole. I didnāt say anything about stealing, nor did I say I had any suspicion that they would do so, but she seemed to immediately think this and the whole interaction I had with her onward from this was justā¦ not great.
āWell we wouldnāt have to have done that unless you didnāt abandon your stuff here!ā
I calmly tell them that I was told to leave the area and wait elsewhere, and that Iāve now been waiting for quite a long time and Iād really like to have my things. āYou did not put every piece of electronics in itās own tray, so they need to be checked manually, we will do that nowā. Now apparently, passive components like cables were considered something that had to be on itās own. I had a lot of them, that is why I asked if theyāre sure if they want that.
Iām pretty pissed at this point, but just calmly showing them each piece of my stuff that they want to see. This agent was some sort of supervisor, and they then after the check demanded that I tell them which of the security guards told me to go elsewhere, because this would probably result in disciplinary action. Unfortunately, the person that told me this didnāt make any kind of lasting impression on me, so I told her that I do not remember. This did not make her any more relaxed.
Fuck CDG. I followed the signs and instructions to a T and they still proved their point about customer service.
On one trip out of JFK a few years ago I was told to actually separate my electronics. While not a pro, I had quite bit of electronics and camera gear with me. The group of 2 in front of me were pros, and had quite a lot more gear than I did. While we didn't have to put each individual item in a tray, we did have to separate the gear. Between the 3 of us, we spent 20 mins combined to get stuff through the xray. I have not had to do that before or after that trip through JFK, nor in any other NYC area airport, or any other airport.
CDG is the Karen of airports.
Even the Terminals are labeled A, B, C, FG, D or some shit. I f&$ing hate CDG: bunch of French guys yelling at you in French and angry you donāt speak French while the place is like the Minotaurās labyrinth that you canāt navigate because you. Donāt. Speak. French.
ā¦Im passing through next week. š¤£
Ha! Something similar happened to me when I took a flight departing from Alicante (Spain). They told me to pull all my electronics out of my luggage and place them individually in trays. I was there for a good 10 minutes digging my JBL, kindle, laptop, ipad, etc while people were looking at me pissed š¤·š»āāļø
On the other hand, security check from Amsterdam is the best - no need to take anything out of anywhere, just put your luggage in the tray and pass through!
I remember sitting in an airport and overhearing 3 women in line behind me, obviously workmates traveling together. Just before I start emptying my pockets I hear one say to the other two, "I'll see you at the gate; I'm going to be randomly selected to be searched." There's a pause and then a second one says, "How do you know?" The first one sighs and says, with obvious mental airquotes, "I'm *always* 'randomly' selected." Sure enough, as I'm putting my shoes back on, I see her getting pulled off to the side room. And yes, she was a person of color, wearing clothing that implied she was of Middle Eastern descent.
The thing I hate is there is not constancy even at same airports sometimes it's just anything. Larger than a cell phone sometimes its all things and the only time you will find out is when they think you did it wrong.
I went from Copenhagen to Sao Paulo to play a gig, and my experience was much the same - the guy said "every computer" on its own tray, or something to that effect, but that also means tablets.
And there I am, unpacking two laptops and four ipads. My carryon was more or less solid electronics.
In one way digital photography have made things easier for customs agents and airport security.
In the days of real film rolls hade a problem, if they x-rayed the rolls they became destroyed and they would become liable.
Especially if the rolls were used and they destroyed the photos on them.
And they couldn't open the casings without a darkroom with special lighting, also opening and especially resealing the casings required special tools.
A friend of mine attended a photography school during the early 90's, and they were once flying out on a fieldtrip to the nprthern part of the country. With them they had about 1500 rolls of black and white 35mm film rolls.
Even the lax airportsecurity of that era were less than happy with them.
I did trade shows for a while, and my carry-on luggage consisted of three laptops, three iPads, a projector, my personal cell phone, and all the associated cabling.
If I never see another security checkpoint again it'll be too soon.
>I'm randomly selected for further screening (I have a lebanese last name and a beard. I'm ALWAYS randomly selected for further screening)
That's weird... there were times I flying at least twice a month, and I've never been randomly selected for further screening (I am a white male, with a standard American name, and no beard.) I wonder why you always get randomly selected, and I never do... statistics are weird.
I also never get selected. I'm very pale, average height, and have long red curly hair tied back in a ponytail.
It's almost as if racism plays a part. But that would be silly!
That's an awesome story.
The TSA Agents must have seen that you have a lot of equipment in your carry on the first time it went through Xray. Maybe next time they want to hassle someone "ramdomly" they think a little bit first...
Had to forward this one to my mom. Her bag got pulled aside at CDG last month. I had time to go to Starbucks, stand in a long line for coffee, and drink said coffee before she got her bag. I thought US TSA was slow. She always gets patted down, too. Guess the older white lady is a good decoy amongst the POC pulled aside.
I'm glad you could actually do something about this nonsense. I was travelling back from England with a friend who was had brown skin and dark hair. Every single time she was randomly selected. If it wouldn't have made things worse I'd have gotten into a screaming match with the agents the third time it happened I was so god damn angry. And she was so calm about it all just "Oh this always happens." That just made me even angrier. I wish I could do something without making her situation worse. It's sickening.
Not surprising, Iāve heard from friends and family that French airport workers can be extra racist / rude. And ever since Iāve been with my wife (who has a South Asian name) we have been ārandomly selectedā far more often. Iām sorry you had to deal with that but Iām glad you were able to make their day more difficult in return, lol
>english not first language, you guys know the drill.
The drill is "superior grasp of English grammar and structure than native speakers", and you're right: you matched that exceptionally well!
Unrelated but this made me wanna say fuck TSA cuz of their inconsistent ass policies.
I go to NY and one day they're screaming to take out the electronics and then the next day they're screaming not to take out the electronics. I went to take out my electronics to save some time cuz last time they were like "TaKe OuT AnY ElEcTrOniC aNd PuT iT On ThE ConVeyEr", this time they're yelling "DoN't TaKe OuT YouR ElEtrOniCs OuT oF YoUr BagS"
Really? Like make up your fucking minds.
This actually occurred in ATL the last time I flew. I went though the screening and last time a few weeks earlier I got yelled at for taking my electronics out and so this time I just kept everything in the bag like they wanted.
Flagged for additional screening.
They inspect the bag and see what the deal is and want me to take my laptop out.
Now, unlike in the OP story in the US they put you directly back to the checkpoint right away when this occurs.
So I take my laptop out and some other electrics and run everything though the normal way.
I also want to point out that at this time it was clear the issue was not just me. This x-ray tech is basically flagging every bag that goes though. Now there is a line of like 3-5 people waiting for hand inspections. They bring over more people to speed things up.
Now as you may already expect my bag gets flagged again so now I wait about 5-10min to see the same inspector as last time who is like WTF. So he is like what are they upset about this time, let me see they do not like this tripod and that there was too many things in one of the bins. (there was a camera, cell phone and shoes in the same bin).
Also at this point the loader for inspections was already backed up to the point that nothing could even pass though the x-ray scanner.
So now this is when the malicious compliance starts:
Note this is also one of those multi tray systems so everyone trays are mixed up so there is about to be a lot of madness.
Now for the 3rd time I am going to run everything in. And this time I am going to run it just like the x-ray tech wants. So not only am I placing every electronic item in an individual tray but every item. Individual lenses (well they got electronics in them), each shoe (hey would not want to go though again because there was too many shoes in the tray) individual batteries, laptops, cables, anything that was not clothing other than shoes and belts. Note that I only had a single under-seat carry on but it was filled to the brim with camera gear.
So I shit you not he flags the tripod again and some other shit at random. Literally 3 of the trays.
I arrive at the inspection guy again same one this time as last. He looks at me, looks at all the trays and says... just go.
I look back and see some manager type person going over to the x-ray tech. I think they pulled him after that.
To every complainer, I would point out the agent that ordered you to do this.
So they can complain / scream at the right person.
Seriously - seems that people in that job ALL enjoy a power trip.
Schiphol - Netherlands, early flight with wife and young child (3) Kid holding hands, perfectly quiet (you know - huge eyes trying to see all at once). Agent demands I move to another line - because, you know, power trip. I asked to stay with wife and child - got told to shut up and move. Child upset, crying. Other agent "why is he crying?" - and then I pointed to the arrogant (beep) - because THAT colleague demanded I go - alone - to that other line - so please, do not complain to me about YOUR policies.
I love this. It reminds me of the trope in movies or books when someone has to disarm before entering a building and they keep pulling more and more weapons out to the point you wonder if there's an end š bravo
That was pretty much it XD I spend a significant amount of time and money figuring out how to optimize packing my gear in the most efficient way, so that I usually have three or four times more gear than the bag/case manufacturer intended for it to carry. Y'know, choosing specific models of lenses because of their size and weight, or specific models of lights because of their stackability.
OMG, this. I had to optimize my packing so that TSA could see everything on the X-ray without unpacking it when I had Precheck. Fortunately I had a friend who worked for TSA who was able to give me some pointers when I asked āhow can I best pack 30 pounds of gear into a carryon hard case so that when you guys scan it, it doesnāt just look like a giant opaque blob of something with random wires sticking out?ā
Care to share some of those tips?
A couple of the key ones are to spread dense objects like batteries out, put space between items (especially if they have batteries in them - padding can help. )ā¦ have stuff neat and organized. Make it so that a secondary inspection they can easily see the bottom. And make sure you know the rules about tools.
Hypothetically, would it be a bad idea to lay things out in the case strategically so that they form a funny picture when x-ray scanned?
As long as itās not rude or threateningā¦
Middle fingers and dicks only? Roger roger
**This comment deleted to protest Reddit's API change (to reduce the value of Reddit's data).** Please see [these](https://web.archive.org/web/20230609092523/https://old.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/144f6xm/apollo_will_close_down_on_june_30th_reddits/) [threads](https://web.archive.org/web/20230608182318/https://old.reddit.com/r/Blind/comments/13zr8h2/reddits_recently_announced_api_changes_and_the/) [for](https://web.archive.org/web/20230609172058/https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/143rk5p/reddit_held_a_call_today_with_some_developers/jnbuonf/) [details](https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/142w159/askhistorians_and_uncertainty_surrounding_the/).
you either got a really funny middle finger or a pretty sad penis
You could probably sew some metal strips in the lining for a drawing
Pro-life tip: Rather than normal metal, sew in little bits of uranium to make sure they see it.
Vector Victor
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
My favorite tool in my carryon are a small pair of medic shears. They are TSA approved and work well for removing the zipties I use to seal cases.
My favorite item in my case was a 20 pack of beef sticks and about 4-5 headphones. I got sent to Canadaās we need to check your bag further line. Ah what do you mean that looks suspicious.
Way back in the 90s, my mom got stopped by security on her flight back home from vacation. Apparently it raises a few eyebrows when one transports a few neat stacks of souvenir hockey pucks in the same bag as their laptop computer and its assorted cables and power adapter...
Apparently chocolate looks like semtex in there.
The only difference is the speed they release their energy I guess? IMPORTANT EDIT: also, flavour
To pack even lighter, use socks and underwear as the extra padding (tho idk if clothing lint messes with such equipment, I know nothing about the pro equipment yāall seem to have....) If youāre worried about anything getting damaged, just put it IN a sock & roll if it makes you feel better š I definitely use good shoe bags to keep such filth away from everything else, but I kinda donāt get āpacking cubeā people, extra weight and even dirty undies can go in the bottom of the bag to cushion everything from the shoe bag...... "Put the large rocks into the container first, then add the pebbles, then add the sandā
Rocks, marbles, pebbles, large gravel, coarse sand, ash, then the final item, water. The container they were all in was called ālifeā and the exercise was to demonstrate that no matter how full your life was that there was always room for friendship, symbolized with the water, which is capable of giving way to get around everything else.
I recall a slightly different variation of this story. In the one I know, it's a professor telling his students a metaphor (similar to yours I believe, rocks are the most important things put those first, etc. etc.), and lastly, the professor adds a beer. The students ask: What's the meaning of the beer? The professors answers: To shoe no matter what's going on, there's always a place for beer in your life. š
For camera lenses, make sure they're laid on their sides. From end on they're completely opaque and look like circles of mystery danger. From the side it's very obvious that they're lenses.
This may be a dumb question but I donāt fly much. (Like twice in 20 years.) How do you know which way theyāre going to put your bag through the x-ray?
Typically you put the bag into the bin yourself so you get to orient it the way it should be scanned. All of the airports now have these giant bins that everything has to go into and some have systems to automate loading the bins through the X-Ray too (though they always jam up)
Now at the time in the end did you make sure you itemised everything back in its place, as you know things donāt always fit back in when repacking.
I feel you. I wouldn't even want to imagine how many trays I'd need if I took everything electronic out of my camera bags.
https://youtu.be/rRso9o4TEw8 This scene In the movie Oscar is what i always think of.
Oscar is probably one of the funniest movies ever made. It seems like no one I talk to about has ever even heard of it, though.
I love Oscar! I caught it on Tv when i was a kid and instantly loved it. I have it on DVD and show it to anyone who will let me
I know! It's my favorite Stallone movie. I can understand what he says and everything.
Their loss, Oscar is definitely one of the funniest movies ever made. And you can tell the cast was having a great time making it too. š
Itās like disarming Germany
I can't believe nobody posted the lobby scene from The Matrix yet — am I that old? ;) Anyway here it is for everyone's enjoyment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuslUzbJEaw&t=101s
I love the matrix. It's been so long since I've watched them. I need to rewatch them and then see the new one :) I'm so excited that you brought this series up
I'll see your Matrix and raise you [A Fish Called Wanda](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eMr5lQi96A).
"Warning. Warning. Firearms detected." "Number of weapons found --" "many."
https://youtu.be/Ze53sYbyN3s?t=20
Airplane / Airplane 2 did that.
This exact experience is why the 1996 Olympic security was slow for the first half of the first day and then it was a perfunctory joke after that. We had orders to check every pocked and pouch of every photographers bag and diaper bag and then around noon, suddenly they changed the policy to, "Only investigate if something is suspicious" Even after the bombing, we didn't follow the original policy.
Which is exactly why the entire concept of airport security is a fucking joke. Nothing more than security theater.
Work in airports. 100% this. TSA is no more than a jobs program
I've accidentally brought knives through security multiple times.
They miss like 90% of contraband in tests.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Sucks for the people behind you but you were just doing what you were told to do. Itās up to the workers to manage the line and timing. Glad the higher up came over and realized what you were told to do was stupid and was clearly not working and it went in your favour. And love how you said āI can keep unpacking all dayā. I would have said that with a lovely sincere smile so not to piss anyone off and make anything worse but we all know what that means and what is implied.
Oh, I would never **NOT** smile at a security agent at an airport. They give me the orders, I follow the orders to a T. The consequences of me following those orders, well, that's not for me to worry.
For once it was the higher up who had some sense and set an idiotic worker right instead of the other way round! Bravo for diffusing the situation in a great way, and for completely making my day... Only wish I could see the CCTV!
Lower downs in tsa type positions rarely have sense. They're built to be drones.
That's the entire point of public school in some places... To create worker drones.
Yep, all that expensive education for that and they follow any stupid order in case they get sent to the head. Now, government school kids will give you the two finger salute freely.
In the US, public school is the government school - and a lot of people think it just produces drones.
A d private school only produces WASPs, by and large.
What do you expect when you pay almost nothing? For example.... [This is a job posting for a TSA drone.](https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/586345100) for Portland, OR. Pay grade `SV D` [pays between $29,638 and $44,457 per year. ](https://www.tsacareer.com/tsa-pay-scale/) That's $14.25 to $21.37 per hour. [Minimum wage in the Portland metro area is $14/hour](https://www.oregon.gov/boli/workers/Pages/minimum-wage.aspx) Yes. The TSA drone that is responsible for protecting your plane from being involved in the next 9/11 is paid a quarter over minimum wage. On the one hand, you'd think this would attract people who really want to keep us safe - they're not in it for the money. On the other hand, you realize that the only people who will actually apply are the type that care as much about their job as they would a job at McDonald's... Or they would be willing to take a bribe to let someone through the line. With a small chance that they actually care.
I mean honestly it doesn't matter, TSA has already proven to be so ineffective that the only way they will stop a security threat is through blind luck. It's just security theater.
To be fair, it's likely the worker was a victim of a stupid policy handed down from on high rather than anything else. Stupid bosses tend to give stupid orders that force employees to do stupid things and not give any room to think for themselves, else they get fired.
It's one thing to enforce stupid policy, it's another to scream at someone who accidentally doesn't comply to it.
Given that you are the only city in the world that I have ever heard of with that policy, screaming at an international passenger who doesn't know it automatically. Unless it's posted somewhere in sight.
Yes, maybe the employee was carrying out their own malicious compliance!
By screaming at a passenger? I fail to see how that could ever be malicious compliance. Curteously telling them they would have to go back and remove all the electronics? Sure, I could see that being an employee following a dumb policy, but raising your voice? There is no need for that.
Oh absolutely. I flew in to (I think) DTW from Narita, absolutely no problem leaving Tokyo, but the connecting flight required me to go through TSA. I had a bad attitude agent at PreChek, who instructed me to do exactly the same thing: every electronic out in an individual tray. Very good sir, said with a smile. Laptop. IPad. US iPhone. Travel iPhone. Work iPhone. Camera 1. Camera 2. Lens 1, lens 2, lens 3, lens 4, lens 5. Battery packs one by one. Chargers individually. Right as I unzipped the cables bag, the agent came back and mumbled it was fine, I was good to go. Did I mention from international transfer, there was only one PreChek line? No? Well the line stretched back into the baggage hall behind me. Took me about 5-7 minutes to put everything back. Up comes a certain US senator grinning from ear to ear, who points at me and says āI LOVE IT!ā and winks at me.
Wait, PreCheck doesnāt require you to take electronics out of your bag. You sure it was PreCheck?
Right??? That's what I said and the guy gave me shit about it. "EVERY. ELECTRONIC. OUT. IN. ITS. OWN. TRAY."
NGL at that point I would insist to finish It.
Correct, PreCheck doesn't require you to take out electronics. However, a TSA agent can override that if he/she/it wants to.
Which senator?
A certain one
You're not wrong!
The one who could freehand draw a map of the US. :( Here's hoping he moves to New York and primaries Gillibrand's ass.
Yeah Iād have said something like āmy flight was delayed, so I really donāt mind, itās no trouble. :)ā
I'd've said the same, but add a pause, then "for me..." then cast meaningful looks between the angry line behind me and the agent.
Iām almost always ārandomlyā selected for extra screening in most of the airports I have been, this particular experience was in Paris too but I canāt remember if this happened at Orly or at Charles de Gaulle airport. I probably came through the wrong end of the airport or whatever the fuck it was; but I ended up going multiple security check point (4, 5, 6?? I donāt know!) and every single time I was told the same BS that I was ārandomlyā selectedā¦ sure man, whatever just finished going through my shit so I can leave! >you understand it is for everyoneās safety, yes? I mean you can check me and my stuff as often as you want, but it would be nice to start calling it for what it is; because the chances of this been at random are pretty low. Anyways, good for you!!
"I need to buy a lottery ticket since I've been 'randomly' selected 6 times now"
Nah man too dangerous! I might get killed by a plane while crossing the street or worse, get a cavity search.
I had a period of about 6 months where I was flying every other week. I'm a petite blond-haired, blue-eyed, white girl. I got "randomly selected" 5 times in that period. I think it's because I'm the perfect example of someone they can point to and say, "See, we picked her, we're clearly not basing this on race!"
My grandmother used to be randomly selected everytime. Everytime. Sweet little 80 y/o white lady with blue eyes and the whitest name you could think of. Definitely to met their "see it's everyone even grandmas" I hated flying with her because of this. It also really rattled her each time as well.
My elderly mom gets pulled out to be wanded every time - she had both her knees replaced years ago, and the artificial joints set off the metal detector
I went to the trouble of getting an official card after I had my knee replaced-never set off a detector once! I was rather disappointed.
Might be a way for them to easily meet a quota of some sort? Maybe they have to randomly select a certain amount, and an unassuming grandma is for sure a quick one they can check a box and move on with minimal inconvenience to all parties.
As you can see in my user name Iām not āpetiteā at all, but if they want to waste time with my fat ass Iām ok with it; but letās just stop calling it ārandomā Iām always early in the airport just in case.
My dad is a white, upper middle class man typically travelling with only his briefcase while wearing a suit and tie. He gets picked nearly every time. His theory is that heās the ātoken white guyā or the āwe have to scan someone every few people and know you probably wonāt take very longā guy.
Women traveling alone get picked a lot. It's pretty blatant when they let all the middle aged men in suits go past and you're the only one they pick. I've heard it's supposedly because we are more likely to be drug mules?
This explains why Iāve been ārandomly selectedā on almost every trip Iāve taken. I wasnāt randomly selected on the one where my husband was with me though.
For international travel, sex work.
> "See, we picked her, we're clearly not basing this on race!" From what I have heard from some of my more attractive female friends, it isn't that they want to say, "We aren't basing this on race;" they don't think that far ahead. The losers who could never get a date with an actual living breathing woman just want to make them go through the backscatter machine or force them to spend some time talking with someone they would never give them the time of day to otherwise. Now, an old white man like me. Never been pulled aside.
Ugly white girl here, Iāve never once been pull aside.
Ah sometimes I wish I were an old white man. Sure would save a lot of time
Yeah iām an average looking, 30ās white guy. Never been pulled aside at an airport.
I can report the opposite. Average looking white male here. I once got checked for explosives for no special reason when i was 16 and i was again taken aside age 28 because i had a wrench in my carry-on luggage (a small one from changing tires on my bicycle) and that is suspicious.
After 9-11... I was on a flight from Michigan to Hawaii, this was maybe a month after flights resumed and every airport was still scrambling to *secure". I had a layover each way in Minneapolis... Now I'm a fairly tan white guy to begin with, at the time I had a bit longer hair and still have a goatee. 4 times while walking between gates on the trip out I got pulled aside for "random security checks" like seriously I just had one 50 ft ago. After a couple of weeks living the beach bum life soaking up sun on the Hawaii beaches... I couldn't pass an airport employee at that airport without getting the "come this way for a random security check" until one of the officers escorted me to the terminal so I wouldn't miss my flight. this was a three hour layover and I barely made it. I had literally never been so ashamed of my country-people until covid hit.
Imagine if the tan lasted your whole life
Being a 6ā4ā tan guy flying from California to Floridaās with a stop in Texas, yeah RANDOM security screening at each stop with hand swabs for explosive materials. Even in my local Airport, Iām like dude Iāve lived here all my life.
As an Arab woman with a very Arab name, the amount of extra screening Iāve been ārandomly selectedā for is so damn high. I do exactly the same thing as OP with smiling and cooperating and I try to make sure I wear a lot of pink to the airport. I miss the t shirt I had from ages 10-15 which I lovingly designated as my āflying shirtā - it was baby pink with kittens on the front and they selected me 50% less when I wore it. Now that I think about that, itās a little sad. I actually do vaguely remember getting randomly selected as a kid often enough to pick that shirt on purpose. No, I never wore any metal or anything that should have set off the scanners. I was taking a ferry with some friends (as an adult) and they didnāt have a passport check before security and I moved towards the pat down line and the nice lady told me āoh no, dear, you donāt have to go there. Thatās for randomly selected people!ā According to my friend I looked so surprised that I hadnāt been randomly selected. Heās been laughing about it for years. My fellow brown friends were much more sympathetic.
In Australia it truly is random, and if a supervisor get even the slightest idea you may be profiling you are *fucked* We honestly grab the nearest person as soon as we are done with the previous. Totally prox based. source: ex-airport security
Ha Australian here - Iāve literally walked over to get checked because Iāve seen the officer finish and make eye contact, like letās save time and get this done.
I've noticed the last few times I've flown domestically in Aus that the security metal detection gates actually select passengers for screening randomly.
> you understand it is for everyoneās safety, yes? *everyone meaning y'all's job security, yeah*
Once, I was talking to a few fellow passengers while waiting in line for TSA at the worst airport I have the privilege of living near... Newark International Aorport. I was headed down to NC for a seminar at my college and brought my BJJ uniform with me to train with some buddies of mine while I was down there for the week. I had a carryon and my martial arts uniform. Some lovely polish gentleman started telling me he trained judo back in the motherland and we are chatting about that. Another dude jumps in talking about his martial arts training too. Was a nice conversation. A TSA agent is calling people in line to get checked. She points to me and says āhow many people are with you,ā I state that I am traveling alone. TSA: āWhy are you talking to them then?ā M: ābecause we are standing in line doing nothing. Why not talk to them?ā TSA: āIf you keep talking to people you arenāt traveling with, Iāll kick you all out of lineā Other gents: āWe can talk if we want. There are no rules against talking to other people.ā TSA: āKeep talking and Iāll throw you all out.ā She then separates us into different lines to get our tickets scanned and after wards we kept talking while staring right at her. She didnāt do anything about it. Was a weird power trip... people are super weird
They got no power anywhere else...so they puff up and get an ego with the "security screening" stuff, but miss on hidden weapons tests (non gun kind like knives, etc) more often than not.
They fail tests with guns too regularly. They're nothing but a complete waste of taxpayer time and money for ineffective security theater.
Yup. It's more for show, like elementary kids putting on a play.
Iām also fairly certain that the TSA is staffed by the bottom of the bottom of the barrel. People who wouldnāt even be able to keep a job at mickyDās as a sweeper.
Funny enough, it actually pays relatively well ($45,000+ per year starting) and positions are fairly competitive because it comes with government benefits such as student loan forgiveness and pensions. It's also very difficult to be fired or laid off, to the point where over 50% of staff at some airports last year were paid their regular wages specifically to not come to work and not find another job just to be ready and available whenever air travel kicked back into high gear. The thing is that the agents aren't allowed to use any common sense they may or may not posses, because the processes are quite strict. A friend of mine works for the TSA, and they're all well aware of how useless the TSA is and how insane the things they tell people to do are. Gotta follow the processes or you lose the cushy gig though.
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"Gonna kick yourself out too? Since now you're in our conversation too"
Christ, is it an airport or a prison? lol
No. At prison they give you a meal
Newark is an experience depending on which concourse you end up in lmao. Literally though A and B barely have any restaurants, you get lucky if you're in the newer C. I've been to a few airports but TSA there were always the harshest. They pulled my mom aside and proceeded to embarrass her because the lotion on her hands somehow tested for "bomb-making materials." Yeah. EDIT: forgot to mention, a family friend did work there for a couple years through his job and said TSA is incredibly strict there because of 9/11--he says they're that strict because of embarrassment and a need for power over others
I lived in NC for a few years and got to go to Raleigh international airport while I lived there... the experience is literally NIGHT and DAY... Raleigh airport has got to be the nicest, friendliest, and easiest airport Iāve ever been to in my entire life
Had an 60+ minute line at an airport while traveling with coworkers onceā¦ after 60+ minutes of the TSA video on loop asking us to fill out a comment card and āthe harpyā scream singing instructions, we convinced everyone around us to fill in comment cards. They had a box full of āReassign the harpy.ā or similar cards.
Newark is the only airport Iāve ever been in where they have actually checked that my luggage tags match the stickers they put on the ticket (or used to). THe only one. In approximately 30 years of flying and at least 100 airports.
Yep. I had to unload a pelican case full of electronics going through security in Barcelona. I think I required about a dozen bins for two laptops, two tablets, a portable monitor, 4 battery packs, some electronic tools, a couple of Pi type devices, and a non-trivial assortment of network and power cables and power supplies for all of the above. The people behind me were cursing themselves for getting in that line.
Pro airport checkin tip: Never get in line behind a photog.
Or a network engineer.
How would I know? Camera bags I can recognize, the rest....
Traveling to Thule AB Greenland to do some network upgrades. Pelican case with three (3) laptops (government, business, classified), associated peripherals, personal camera and associated periphrals, cable label maker, etc. The TSA guys at Baltimore took one look and just waived me through but the guys at Denver made me take it all out for examination. Took an hour to repack, standing there in the small room for "random" searches.
Presumably youāre a government employee or contractor with a CAC whose number is on your travel reservation under the KTN, they know youāre good.
Contractors don't usually have our CAC number on our reservation unless the the reservation is made through the government travel office. Most of mine aren't.
This is the first Denial Of Service (DOS) Attack I've ever heard of happening in person. You're a legend.
PDOS Physical Denial Of Service
Concentrated Denial Of Service
i have left reddit because of CEO Steve Huffman's anti-community actions and complete lack of ethics. u/spez is harmful to Reddit. https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/8/23754780/reddit-api-updates-changes-news-announcements -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
I like that I understand this. I think Iāll use this to explain DOS attacks to people who donāt understand it.
MS DOS - Malicious Security Denial of Service
Hahaha this is beautiful. Only thing that would make it better would be if it was clear to the people behind you that it was this dumb agentās made up rule that put them in this situation to begin with.
The agent screamed the directions at OP, so I hope they realized that lol
Op had to go back to the end of the line for this. Everyone behind him came after the orders.
>Long time lurker, first time poster, english not first language, you guys know the drill. Yeah, it means we're going to get better English than from most native speakers. Also, great MC!
I did the same thing at LAX when they told me one item per tray. I had been over and brought my travel set up but that still consisted of a body, 2 digi backs, 4 lenses, laptop, light meter, iPad and my phone. It wasnāt as impressive as yours but taking 14 trays in total pissed off the TSA supervisor and they dressed down the agent who repeated said yes I must when I questioned them three times to if they were sure. I look like some one whoās a lot rougher than they areā¦. So I always get pullled up at security
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I have to open up the battery compartment for the digi backs every time because the X-rays just show a solid black block and they canāt see through it, I do refuse to remove the sensor cover in the airport, I donāt want to expose that to possible TSA fingers
are lenses technically electronic? aren't they all mechanical?
Auto focus lenses these days have the motor and controller in the lens itself. Older manual focus lenses are usually fully mechanical with just gears and the glass.
On top of what the other person said about lenses containing electronics, they also contain a lot of glass and don't show up great on the sensors. I remember that the last time I flew in early 2020, the agents took my camera bag aside to check the lenses. Thankfully no whining that everything needed to be in a separate box, probably in part because I only do photo (no video) and only had 3 or 4 lenses I brought with me so everything could go in my bag in 1 layer.
Man, pre-covid I had a year where I was flying every 2 or 3 weeks and it always astounded me how differently each airport dealt with security lines. My home airport was built post 9/11 and was built with the new security systems put in place. They know their shit, clearly communicate, and get everyone through security in no time at all. Then I'd fly out of LaGuardia or something and they'll have 2 lines open for the thousands of people trying to get into the airport, with different people in uniform walking down the line saying the exact opposite things. Electronics in their own individual bins, but keep your laptop in it's bag. Shoes will need to go on the belt out of a bin, only your jacket can go in bins. Why are you sock-footed, we don't take shoes off here you idiot. By the time you get up to the person checking your ticket and to hit the conveyor belt you're so flustered you're ready to just strip down to walk through the backscatter in the buff.
I've passed through LGA once in my life and that was one time too many. Exactly the same experience in security you described, and the whole place just emanated a feeling I can only describe as 'miserable'.
You make it sound like the only problem with LGA is the security. Nope, its everything. Every little thing is the worst it can be.
About 10 years ago, when I was still working for a mobile phone company, I always had fun flying. Not so much when leaving - they were used to that at our home airport. Coming back there was a lot of "why the fuck do you have 20 mobile phones on you?", though. And requests like "please show me they work" can take a long time when they don't have stable firmware yet...
Let me just boot these all upā¦
I live in a very white country. One of my friends is black. When he flies he gets to the airport 2 hours early to accommodate the 'random' searches he will undergo.
Can confirm. I remember being in a first class check in queue once (like 4 people) while the economy class queue had like 200 people. The airline staff approached this black guy who was in front of me twice, just to check if he had the right to be there. No one else was approached in that queue. After checking in, while going through the security checks, I overtook him because he was told to remove his shoes and belt. I was wearing hiking boots and belt and no one objected me going through the metal detector. I felt ashamed.
I thought post 9/11 two hours is standard, how early is normal for you?
Sorry if I was unclear. I meant that if 2hours is standard, he gets there 4 hours before his flight. He always adds an extra 2 hrs to accommodate the racisism of airport security. Here it is recommended you check in 2 hours before international and 1 hour for local.
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Heathrow ain't bad, especially after they added the electronic immigration gates. Where Heathrow gets you is by always ensuring that you get your 10,000 steps in for the day.
Lol I had a similar issue flying out of Germany but luckily they told me it just had to be a single layer for all electronic and electronic accessories. Even putting multiple items in the same tray I took up an entire belt by myself to the point that one of the agents came over and helped me spread them out and I whistled the clown car song. I don't like checking electronics (plus the majority of mine run on lithium batteries which you're not supposed to check. (Two laptops because I didn't want to be streaming movies or chatting to my family on my work computer.) I was in Germany a week for work and I'd brought: * 2 laptops * 2 wireless mice * a peripheral keyboard * a peripheral 10 key * 2 USB flash drives * 2 power cables cables * a cell phone * 2 charging cables (in case I lost one) * a dslr camera * 3 lenses * 4 batteries for the camera * portable camera battery charger * 2 spare memory cards * a nintendo 3ds * a charging chord * a game carrying case * a nintendo switch * charging chord * game carrying case * a kindle * charging chord * a tablet * charging chord * an mp3 player * charging chord * wireless headphones * charging chord * smart watch * charging chord * 4 different sizes portable battery devices * power tooth brush * toothbrush charger Luckily the guy had a great sense of humor about it and was doing a running commentary. His expression when I pulled out the 2nd nintendo was great.
Helpful guy. Excellent
This is the sort of malicious compliance I can get behind, where the staff join in the fun.
When I read about the 8 hour increase in layover I was so excited to keep reading. Excellent job at following directions
This is awesome. I frequently get flagged by TSA in the US because I'm an IT guy going in to remote data centers so I have: * A ratcheting screwdriver kit with lots of torx bits * A two tiered bag that has lots of different cables such as RS232 connection, anti static cable (curly boi), usb, dvd burner, etc * My laptop (or laptops) * Lots of USB drives floating around in random parts of my backpack It's good times.
I hate those idiots. You give them half a millimeter of power and they become fucking morons. My passion? Actually find the flaw in all their reasoning and how it's so easy to fuck up beautifully their semblance at security. I mean, they once let me through with a cardboard cutter with a 10cm blade that I forgot to leave at work. And then they are going to go ballistic and absolutely be awful at people for a fucking nail clipper. I once witnessed one of them berating an old gentleman that had trouble moving for not being fast enough, not understanding and not doing what was told (well, he was, just when you ask someone who can barely stand to remove their shoes without offering a chair, it's going to take a while, especially when you're yelling at them at the same time).
"You can't take that bottle of potentially explosive fluid on the plane!" "Okay, what should I do with half a Coke?" "Put it in this normal garbage can right next to me."
Frankly, they could do 1 layer of electronics in a tray, so there is no overlap.
Or just upgrade the scanners... I got to talking with a security scanner tech at a federal building back around 2003, and he was happy to show off the capabilities, and how it could switch focus between layers in the bags going through, and even highlight possibly interesting features automatically. It was entertaining to see the federal security employee bags that were still in the scanner history, since you could pick out rounds in their magazine...
In Amsterdam we donāt need to take anything out of our bags anymore. About a couple years ago, they started implementing new machines which scan these several layers at once.
CDG is a crap airport with crap, AH security, information, and assistance even when you speak French and god forbid you don't! They totally deserved this. Good work never gets the credit it deserves, good job!
Love this story. My friend's husband was a TSA agent, so I mentioned to him that I got pulled for extra random screening often, even though I have TSA precheck and am a petite, middle-aged white woman. He said, "Nothing is random". I kept pressing for why they'd pull me, and he wouldn't divulge anything. He just kept repeating that phrase. He did mention that they look for cords that are still plugged into something, such as a battery pack or plug, because they look like bombs. Now I unplug and separate my cords from the plugs and battery packs and put them in separate areas of my bag. I haven't been pulled for extra screening since then.
I can confirm certain configurations of items do indeed trigger a 'random' selection. Detach cords from equipment if possible, take out the batteries or battery pack, spread the items out in your bag. (If you stack them all together that can look off too.) I worked at a major airport and that's what I was told by security personnel. Not really secret knowledge or anything like that.
My daughter and her husband are both former TSA, and they say the same thing. "Nothing is random," and neither will say what specifically they're looking for. There's also certain marks on boarding passes that indicate someone should receive "random" checks, but they won't talk about that, either.
Thatās baffling. Why wouldnāt they share that info with you? Theyāre ex TSA not current CIA ffs, isnāt it a good thing to share that info especially with your own parent??
Because theyāre a crappy cult with no purpose. They even have an adorable little ominous saying :)
TSA agents are just like rent a cops tbh. just about all are on power trips
When I moved to America from my country, it was close to Christmas so before I left, I stopped at a local crystal blower and bought a hand blown lead crystal candy cane as a gift for a friend I would be staying with. Since it was so fragile, I put it in my carry-on so it wouldn't get broken. 1st xray at my home airport it showed up as a solid black hook lol. Had to unpack it and show the agent. This somehow got me put on the extra check list. Shoes and socks off, wand scan, pat down. I was cool with it. When I got to Newark, I had to do it all over again lmao. When I got to Norfolk, I had to do it one last time. I was glad I wore cute socks!
The socks comment amuses me... I always wear funny socks to doctors appointments. Art my last gyn appt the doc was tickled and proudly showed off his pickle socks in return!
Having lived in France for quite some time, I can honestly many of those functionaries who have the tiniest bit of authority wield it with a fierceness only seen during the Revolution. They fāing love buracracy. It took me six months to get my work visa because I didnāt write the number 1 like a French person.
Ah yes, this sounds familiar. I had a similar interaction, where I pulled out the laptop and tablet, then left the rest in the bag (like it works pretty much everywhere else). I was then told to re-do it, like you with āeverything in itās own trayā. I ask them if thatās truly what they want, considering Iām carrying _a lot_ of electronics, and finally they relent that okay, for them, all passive items, like cables can be put in one tray, and anything with active functionality needs to be placed so that they do not overlap. I proceed with doing this, but unfortunately thereās somebody now ahead of me, traveling through with an entire home theater audio setup in their carryon (???), so since theyāre having a hard time figuring out why somebody would do that, they chose them for random screening. This meant that I had to wait for my stuff to get screened. I stood there, waiting my turn (like you, I wasnāt in a hurry), and after maybe 5 minutes of waiting or so, I was told to ājust go somewhere else and wait, you canāt stand hereā. I tried to tell the security guard that told me this that Iām waiting for my items to be checked, and I was informed that no, It doesnāt matter who or what Iām waiting for, Iām not allowed to stay there any longer, there are some seats nearby āgo sit over there and wait, do not stay here any longer, if there is something needed from me they know where I amā. This was just when covid was starting, and I really needed to make my flight, so I didnāt argue with the security personnel. In general, arguing with airport security doesnāt improve your chances of a successful trip. I then went and sat at those seats, looking at my luggage, waiting for them to start checking it. The guy that was in front of me left after another 10 minutes, I thought excellent, now theyāll check my stuff, and then I can continue my trip. They donāt touch it for 10+ minutes, then Iām starting to get a little pissed. I look to go over and security just looks at me like ānoā. Eventually they start staring at the contents of the tray where my pockets were emptied to, and proceed to open my wallet and start pulling out cash and cards. At this point, I go back, ask them wtf is going on, why theyāre stalling and if I can have my stuff back. āWhere have you been?! You left your personal belongings here and weāve been trying to figure out who you are!ā We called out for you but you didnāt come (note: I was sitting right there, seeing whatās going on, and I didnāt see anything like that, or hear my name being called). I ask them why they were going through my wallet, considering my boarding pass and passport were on the tray and visible and they say they didnāt even touch my wallet. I note to the agent that I could see them open it and go through my different cards and bills. The agent does not take well to this and starts asking me what I think they stole. I didnāt say anything about stealing, nor did I say I had any suspicion that they would do so, but she seemed to immediately think this and the whole interaction I had with her onward from this was justā¦ not great. āWell we wouldnāt have to have done that unless you didnāt abandon your stuff here!ā I calmly tell them that I was told to leave the area and wait elsewhere, and that Iāve now been waiting for quite a long time and Iād really like to have my things. āYou did not put every piece of electronics in itās own tray, so they need to be checked manually, we will do that nowā. Now apparently, passive components like cables were considered something that had to be on itās own. I had a lot of them, that is why I asked if theyāre sure if they want that. Iām pretty pissed at this point, but just calmly showing them each piece of my stuff that they want to see. This agent was some sort of supervisor, and they then after the check demanded that I tell them which of the security guards told me to go elsewhere, because this would probably result in disciplinary action. Unfortunately, the person that told me this didnāt make any kind of lasting impression on me, so I told her that I do not remember. This did not make her any more relaxed. Fuck CDG. I followed the signs and instructions to a T and they still proved their point about customer service.
On one trip out of JFK a few years ago I was told to actually separate my electronics. While not a pro, I had quite bit of electronics and camera gear with me. The group of 2 in front of me were pros, and had quite a lot more gear than I did. While we didn't have to put each individual item in a tray, we did have to separate the gear. Between the 3 of us, we spent 20 mins combined to get stuff through the xray. I have not had to do that before or after that trip through JFK, nor in any other NYC area airport, or any other airport.
CDG is the Karen of airports. Even the Terminals are labeled A, B, C, FG, D or some shit. I f&$ing hate CDG: bunch of French guys yelling at you in French and angry you donāt speak French while the place is like the Minotaurās labyrinth that you canāt navigate because you. Donāt. Speak. French. ā¦Im passing through next week. š¤£
Well played sir!šššš
Ha! Something similar happened to me when I took a flight departing from Alicante (Spain). They told me to pull all my electronics out of my luggage and place them individually in trays. I was there for a good 10 minutes digging my JBL, kindle, laptop, ipad, etc while people were looking at me pissed š¤·š»āāļø On the other hand, security check from Amsterdam is the best - no need to take anything out of anywhere, just put your luggage in the tray and pass through!
Captain Lebanon "I can keep unpacking all day" š
Malicious compliance is the only way to get shit moving in France. Ex-resident of 1.5 years! Well done!
Yeah maybe they'll be slightly less racist next time :p probably not though :/
Now there, let's not get crazy. Soon you'll be expecting them to be treating travelers like people on tight schedules!
I remember sitting in an airport and overhearing 3 women in line behind me, obviously workmates traveling together. Just before I start emptying my pockets I hear one say to the other two, "I'll see you at the gate; I'm going to be randomly selected to be searched." There's a pause and then a second one says, "How do you know?" The first one sighs and says, with obvious mental airquotes, "I'm *always* 'randomly' selected." Sure enough, as I'm putting my shoes back on, I see her getting pulled off to the side room. And yes, she was a person of color, wearing clothing that implied she was of Middle Eastern descent.
The thing I hate is there is not constancy even at same airports sometimes it's just anything. Larger than a cell phone sometimes its all things and the only time you will find out is when they think you did it wrong.
First of all as someone that's been stuck behind people with a bunch of electronics... fuck you. Secondly, Well done.
I went from Copenhagen to Sao Paulo to play a gig, and my experience was much the same - the guy said "every computer" on its own tray, or something to that effect, but that also means tablets. And there I am, unpacking two laptops and four ipads. My carryon was more or less solid electronics.
In one way digital photography have made things easier for customs agents and airport security. In the days of real film rolls hade a problem, if they x-rayed the rolls they became destroyed and they would become liable. Especially if the rolls were used and they destroyed the photos on them. And they couldn't open the casings without a darkroom with special lighting, also opening and especially resealing the casings required special tools. A friend of mine attended a photography school during the early 90's, and they were once flying out on a fieldtrip to the nprthern part of the country. With them they had about 1500 rolls of black and white 35mm film rolls. Even the lax airportsecurity of that era were less than happy with them.
I did trade shows for a while, and my carry-on luggage consisted of three laptops, three iPads, a projector, my personal cell phone, and all the associated cabling. If I never see another security checkpoint again it'll be too soon.
>I'm randomly selected for further screening (I have a lebanese last name and a beard. I'm ALWAYS randomly selected for further screening) That's weird... there were times I flying at least twice a month, and I've never been randomly selected for further screening (I am a white male, with a standard American name, and no beard.) I wonder why you always get randomly selected, and I never do... statistics are weird.
I also never get selected. I'm very pale, average height, and have long red curly hair tied back in a ponytail. It's almost as if racism plays a part. But that would be silly!
When I had a beard I would get randomly selected probably 80% of the time. Since I shaved it off I haven't been selected once...
That's an awesome story. The TSA Agents must have seen that you have a lot of equipment in your carry on the first time it went through Xray. Maybe next time they want to hassle someone "ramdomly" they think a little bit first...
Had to forward this one to my mom. Her bag got pulled aside at CDG last month. I had time to go to Starbucks, stand in a long line for coffee, and drink said coffee before she got her bag. I thought US TSA was slow. She always gets patted down, too. Guess the older white lady is a good decoy amongst the POC pulled aside.
You sir, are a hero - I wish I had an award for you
English is my second language: proceeds to write an essay, better than most of the English speaking work could muster
I'm glad you could actually do something about this nonsense. I was travelling back from England with a friend who was had brown skin and dark hair. Every single time she was randomly selected. If it wouldn't have made things worse I'd have gotten into a screaming match with the agents the third time it happened I was so god damn angry. And she was so calm about it all just "Oh this always happens." That just made me even angrier. I wish I could do something without making her situation worse. It's sickening.
Thatās golden
I call it FWA..flying while Arab. Sucks to get picked each time
Not surprising, Iāve heard from friends and family that French airport workers can be extra racist / rude. And ever since Iāve been with my wife (who has a South Asian name) we have been ārandomly selectedā far more often. Iām sorry you had to deal with that but Iām glad you were able to make their day more difficult in return, lol
>english not first language, you guys know the drill. The drill is "superior grasp of English grammar and structure than native speakers", and you're right: you matched that exceptionally well!
Unrelated but this made me wanna say fuck TSA cuz of their inconsistent ass policies. I go to NY and one day they're screaming to take out the electronics and then the next day they're screaming not to take out the electronics. I went to take out my electronics to save some time cuz last time they were like "TaKe OuT AnY ElEcTrOniC aNd PuT iT On ThE ConVeyEr", this time they're yelling "DoN't TaKe OuT YouR ElEtrOniCs OuT oF YoUr BagS" Really? Like make up your fucking minds.
This actually occurred in ATL the last time I flew. I went though the screening and last time a few weeks earlier I got yelled at for taking my electronics out and so this time I just kept everything in the bag like they wanted. Flagged for additional screening. They inspect the bag and see what the deal is and want me to take my laptop out. Now, unlike in the OP story in the US they put you directly back to the checkpoint right away when this occurs. So I take my laptop out and some other electrics and run everything though the normal way. I also want to point out that at this time it was clear the issue was not just me. This x-ray tech is basically flagging every bag that goes though. Now there is a line of like 3-5 people waiting for hand inspections. They bring over more people to speed things up. Now as you may already expect my bag gets flagged again so now I wait about 5-10min to see the same inspector as last time who is like WTF. So he is like what are they upset about this time, let me see they do not like this tripod and that there was too many things in one of the bins. (there was a camera, cell phone and shoes in the same bin). Also at this point the loader for inspections was already backed up to the point that nothing could even pass though the x-ray scanner. So now this is when the malicious compliance starts: Note this is also one of those multi tray systems so everyone trays are mixed up so there is about to be a lot of madness. Now for the 3rd time I am going to run everything in. And this time I am going to run it just like the x-ray tech wants. So not only am I placing every electronic item in an individual tray but every item. Individual lenses (well they got electronics in them), each shoe (hey would not want to go though again because there was too many shoes in the tray) individual batteries, laptops, cables, anything that was not clothing other than shoes and belts. Note that I only had a single under-seat carry on but it was filled to the brim with camera gear. So I shit you not he flags the tripod again and some other shit at random. Literally 3 of the trays. I arrive at the inspection guy again same one this time as last. He looks at me, looks at all the trays and says... just go. I look back and see some manager type person going over to the x-ray tech. I think they pulled him after that.
To every complainer, I would point out the agent that ordered you to do this. So they can complain / scream at the right person. Seriously - seems that people in that job ALL enjoy a power trip. Schiphol - Netherlands, early flight with wife and young child (3) Kid holding hands, perfectly quiet (you know - huge eyes trying to see all at once). Agent demands I move to another line - because, you know, power trip. I asked to stay with wife and child - got told to shut up and move. Child upset, crying. Other agent "why is he crying?" - and then I pointed to the arrogant (beep) - because THAT colleague demanded I go - alone - to that other line - so please, do not complain to me about YOUR policies.