Flutterby™! : Feeling safer 2008-09-21 07:45:54.169715+00

Feeling safer

2008-09-21 07:45:54.169715+00 by meuon 3 comments

Yesterday I got on a plane in Atlanta with a Pelican Carry On Case packed full of some very unique electronic gear for en electric utility. Of course, the x-ray machine operator just kind of stares at in on the screen... If anything could look more like an action movie suitcase bomb than what I had, I'm not sure how. I laugh, she relaxes and three big guys take my case over to a table. One is watching me, and I'm in a good mood, expecting a little chaos with lots of extra time before my flight. The case is opened, they don't touch or move anything, and he says "I don't know what I'm looking at." closes it and they let me take it and go on. I'm feeling so much safer.

Reminds me of the time about 5 years ago when Younger Son and I were bringing his tiny little solar-powered carts (about 1.5" long each) home from a 3-week Electrical Engineering class in LA. We left *lots* of time before the flight, and I put them in a clear baggie in my carry-on, expecting a questioning. I produced the letter from the professor, on college stationary, explaining what these little gizmos were, but that didn't stop two big guys with guns from showing up at the private table nervously. Younger Son offered to throw them away and not take them home, but that made the agents even more nervous. Mister Big arrived (although his weapon was holstered), nodded all 'round, put on his rubber gloves, looked at the little carts and said, ".... This is a science project." He glared at the agents, apologized to us, asked Younger Son about what the carts did, and sent us on our way.

We saw one of his classmates at the gate for a different flight, and Younger Son asked if he'd been grilled, too. "Nope, I just stuck 'em inside this Coke can, they didn't even find 'em!" We felt so much safer.

The key part of the deal is how you react. The Pelican case worked well as a case, ans also got a lot less attention then when I packed all this kind of stuff in a big suitcase with my clothes. They made a mess of it.

Flew out of O'Hare last week to Hawaii, and they recognized my C-PAP anti-apnea machine in the 'scope, but did an explosive residue test on it anyway. Interestingly, nothing was done at the Honolulu return end of the trip.