[I JaNiSaRy I]

Hey guys, dont start my own threads much but with all the TSA threads on the boards i thought this may be of interest to some. Please cut me some slack, i am not an english major nor will i be editing this for spelling. Cliffs and Pics Below.

Yesterday afternoon while going through airport security on my way back to school, i had my carry on bag with my shoes, toiletries, and a laptop in it amongst my clothes (lots of things they regurally inspect closely). After i walk through the metal detector, i always walk down to the end of the bag pick up / re-dressing area and watch my bags go through the x-ray machine. No particular reason why, i just think its cool to see what my stuff looks like in the xray.

Anyway, i see them looking at my bag with my clothes and few belongings and the TSA person screening the bag stops the conveyor belt, then calls over a colleague, points at the screen, and then they both start laughing. I was pretty far away from the screen so i couldn't see exactly what they were pointing at. Anyway, the guy who was called over tells me he needs to do a bag check and i say okay no biggie. I actually then realized i had forgotten to take my toiletries bag out of my main bag so i figured it might be that.

Anyway, over at the inspection table, this guy asks me if i have any liquids or gels and i say yes and that they are all in this one bag and should all be travel size. So he checks and seems satisfied but then says he needs to check one more thing. He asks if i have some kind of small stick. I immediately realize he is talking about the mashing stick for a mashing bowl i bought over the weekend so i quickly find it and take it out of the bubble rap to show him.

Instead of inpsecting it however, he seemed rather surprised, as if he was expecting to find something else, which obviously made him laugh when he saw it on the screen.

So now I will make my assumptions, and i would like to hear an OT opinion on them.

Personally, I think they TSA people saw the mashing stick on the screen, thought it was a dildo of some sort, and consquently found it funny. Obviously because they laughed at the screen, they did not percieve any object in my bag to be any sort of security threat. By inspecting my bag with the intent of revealing this item, I believe TSA was wayyy out of line. They were either purposely attempting to embarrass me (if it had actually been a dildo like they thought), or satisfying personal curiosity by abusing their power to inspect something that clearly does not need to be inspected.

Additional information
- the mashing stick was in a separate pocket of my duffel back, at least 2 feet away from any of the gels or liquids in my toiletry bag.
- I did for a moment consider calling out the guy but did not out of fear of causing a scene that would make me miss my flight, and because personally i actually thought the situation was pretty funny.

Pics:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_vO0ubMFjYqU/TP...129_171825.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_vO0ubMFjYqU/TP...129_171810.jpg

Cliffs
- going though airport security
- TSA laughs at something in my bag
- bag searched after going through screen
- they inspected both my toiletries then showed an uncharacteristically strong interest in a seemingly harmless object
- object could be easily confused as a dildo
- i draw conclusions / make assumptions in the final paragraph (read it if you care)

So yeah, please offer your opinions. Would i have been justified to call these guys out here or do you think im just over analyzing the situation and making unrealistic assumptions?

[Autolobotomist playing air is my style? so what]

Next time I fly I intend to not shower for a couple of days and to disrobe completely without any prompting and letting the smell of my dirty bollocks waft throughout the room while telling them to "check me thoroughly, boys". Edited By: Autolobotomist Nov 29th, 2010 at 10:36 PM

[thereraise]

They def wanted to pull a nice 12' black ruber cack out your bag in front of everyone.

[timthegem]

lolz cool, TSA employees are such lowlife scum and it is our personal duty to treat them as such! We don't need people like that to help keep us safe from those who would gleefully slice us open and dance in our guts, no siree.

[satchmo]

so is this mashing stick like a mortar and pestle (sp?)? without getting into whether having one on a flight should be investigated thoroughly or not, why are you hauling this stuff around?

[skankmofo]

I hate the TSA far more than most as I fly twice a week, but calling them out here would have accomplished nothing. They could have just claimed your stick looked like it had some liquid in it or looked like a weapon on the screen.

I went through security with my toiletries in my bag once and I didn't have a ziplock, all the toiletries were the right size, but they were going to throw all of them away unless i put it in a 1 quart ziplock bag...I said just put it through in the bin with no bag (they didn't have any bags), they said "the rule is it has to be in a 1qt bag or we throw it away", they also mentioned "there is a reason for everything" but couldn't tell me what the reason for having a 1qt ziplock is. Ended up having to check my bag as I was getting nowhere with logic.

[I JaNiSaRy I]

satch, i bought it while i was home and was just bringing it back to school. Needed to perfect my brownie recipe

skank, i would have lost it in a situation like that and there is no way i would have checked my bag haha. and i agree, calling them out would have gone no where because of the easy outs they have (as you mentioned above).

[killingbird]

these guys see tons of stuff and that probably includes plenty of dildos every day. I would not be shocked it they knew exactly what it was and were just checking to see if you had any of the other "brownie ingredients" that go with it. Either way I would have been laughing as opposed to being pissed.

[I JaNiSaRy I]

 

Originally Posted by killingbird

these guys see tons of stuff and that probably includes plenty of dildos every day. I would not be shocked it they knew exactly what it was and were just checking to see if you had any of the other "brownie ingredients" that go with it. Either way I would have been laughing as opposed to being pissed.

haha that is a valid point, but they didn't ask about the bowl part so i dont think that was it. and FWIW i did find it hilarious.

[norcaljeff 2010 OT Thread Kill Leader]

this is why I always check my mashing sticks in my luggage. it's just not worth the hassle, man

[curiousgeorge baby duck hat]

im glad you included the picture. i had no idea what a mashing stick was.

[Papa Fish]

Looks like a travel size glass dildo to me

[Neeek]

def. looks like a dildo with the entire shaft down to the start of the ballsack. i would have giggled too, but they are certainly dicks for trying to humiliate you.

nothing annoys me more than abusive people with a false sense of power. Edited By: Neeek Nov 30th, 2010 at 05:41 AM

[boondock11]

Def. lame as hell that they laughed. None of their business. If you have the time and want to put in the time write that TSA department a letter and explain what their employees do. Clearly there are enough cameras around for them to maybe look into it if their boss is a hard ass. Prolly nothing would come from it but sounds like you dont want to leave it as it is. Props on not making a scene, not the way you want to go at the heat of the moment.

[x_Driven_x]

 

Originally Posted by skankmofo

"there is a reason for everything" but couldn't tell me what the reason for having a 1qt ziplock is.

I feel your pain, as a consultant I travel alot too....

Anyway, the "reason" for 1qt ziplock bag is to simply limit the total amount of liquid any one person can take on the plane. Otherwise you could take 342 travel size shampoo bottles.... etc... I suppose their logic is that if chemicals slip by, at least they will only have a small amount of them. I dunno.

I think the TSA folks come of two breeds:

a) Douchebag #1 - made fun of as a child, wanted to be all mighty and powerful and be a cop, but couldn't even pull that off right.

b) Douchebag #2 - uneducated lowlife who was desperate for a job, various community outreach organizations pointed them to a nice cushy government job at the aiport, because afterall, they'll hire anyone willing to pay union dues