Airport fun

[Rapscallion]

I flew over three weeks after 9/11. We were trying to book late to get a cheaper price, but they were insisting that the planes were full.

Some people slept on the way over to give you an idea of how full it was - they were stretched across the empty middle row of four seats...

I got away with a muttered "please" when being frisked.

Rapscallion

[pbmods]

Jokes...

I betcha the same people that make bomb jokes at airport security are the same ones that beam over you all mighty-like and ask you, "Working hard, or hardly workin'?" when you're bent over a mop cleaning up some vinegar-drinking kid's puke.

"Hey! I'm an ass at my local retail store, and that doesn't get me arrested!"

[Becks]

I'm all for no sharps on flights, x-raying baggage, no lighters or matches (flights are non-smoking, what would you need them for?)

I personally would need a lighter or matches because the second I claim my two suitcases, I want a smokey treat. I like flying, I like the plane taking off, but LANDING freaks me out. However, since I can't have them with me, I warn my mommy/sister/nephew/fiance (depending on where I'm flying to ) to make sure they have some sort of flame producer ready to be used within 15 minutes of me setting foot on solid ground.

[Lehk]

I personally would need a lighter or matches because the second I claim my two suitcases, I want a smokey treat. I like flying, I like the plane taking off, but LANDING freaks me out. However, since I can't have them with me, I warn my mommy/sister/nephew/fiance (depending on where I'm flying to ) to make sure they have some sort of flame producer ready to be used within 15 minutes of me setting foot on solid ground.

travel with chew tobacco, you can get all the nicotine goodness without the incindiary devices

[Dreamstalker]

On several occasions the metal detector has been set off by my:

--tooth fillings
--glasses frames
--jeans zipper
--strap-adjusting thingies on bras
--sterling silver jewelry (I thought sterling wasn't supposed to set it off)

The only time I actually had my carryon frisked was when I was flying to Ireland a few years ago; I got pulled aside at the bottom of the jetway. Fairly uneventful, luckily,

[imal'sheva]

Flying El Al was always like this. We also get our bags checked in shopping malls and in many go thorugh a metal detector. It is a way of life.

[zeoquean]

Some jerks say they have a bomb in their bag. We take them around to security and get them to explain to them that they have comitted an offence punishable by time inside, then we tell them to go home cause they're not flying this time. The cleverest guy did it 2 days in a row I kid you not.

Getting drunk and abusive, a bloody fantastic way to waste the entire cost of an airfare and wasting everyone's time.

Flights get delayed shock horror it happens, just face it. Whinging and whining is not going to help. Sometimes there is bad weather and you're flight can't go boohoo. These things happen, we don't control the weather, that's GOD. I'm sorry on behalf of The Almighty.

Okay...I have some comments here. The first thing goes along the lines of the first part of the quoted material. We were in the airport in Jamaica, coming back to the states. We were on a family trip, and there were a bunch of plumbers/contractors there too (it was like a business trip, but you could take families with) One of the other guys said, quite loudly, "Hey, did you get that weed into your bag?" to my dad...and the security guy then checked every one of our bags (the meant it as a joke, but the security guard took it as it was real). It was supposed to be just random bag checks, but they checked EVERY one of our family's bags because of that comment. Props to those security guys. I think they should have checked every bag anyway.

There was another trip like the one that I mentioned before, only this time we were in Hawaii. We were coming back home, and in the airport there, one of the contractors got...quite...inebriated. He barely got on the flight (almost missed it, being late because of his precious drink he had) and then the whole flight home, he shouted "Aloha" quite drunkenly. It was funny for a while...but then it just got annoying. Oh, and he kept drinking on the plane.

And then my final thing...My friend and I went to Cancun for spring break 2001, and we were at the airport early. It was an early flight too...6 am. So we're there at 5, 530...and then we get on the plane. We're still on the plane...not taking off...STILL not taking off. (I should mention that I do live in Minnesota, and this was in March. March in Minnesota = snow). We sat on that plane for 3 hours, until 9 am, before we finally took off. We were supposed to be in Cancun then. The airline people failed to tell us that they had closed the airport due to a snowstorm. They just left us on the plane and didn't mention anything. That was kind of rude, but I do understand that flights get delayed (duh...it's happened a bunch of times due to snow here).

[zeoquean]

Oh..I have one other thing before I forget. The Jamaica trip I was on (we went in January) brought about some interesting things. My dad had his knee replaced about 2 years ago, so he carries a card for that, as he sets off metal detectors. And he broke his back a while ago..(in '93) so he now has an electronic nerve stimulator implanted into his back in order to stop the pain...so he has another card for that too. Because of those cards, he ended up being taken away for a while...to get past security any everything. It was just...strange.

[Becks]

travel with chew tobacco, you can get all the nicotine goodness without the incindiary devices

Chewing tobacco? When I was working at the gas station, I didn't even like having to SELL the stuff.

[Lehk]

Chewing tobacco? When I was working at the gas station, I didn't even like having to SELL the stuff.

sure it's nasty, but it won't get you a detour to cuba.

[Primer]

Crosshair don't wear the shoes you're cannonading in, buy a pair of cheap tennies wear them to Gettysburg, put them in a ziplock bag and don't touch them again until you're going home. If you know someone you can trust at your destination I would suggest you ship your stuff to that person beforehand, that eliminates a lot of questions.

Actually, it's me, not Crosshair, that will be going to Gettysburg. We have be in period correct clothing, so I'll have to wear my leather brogans (shoes). Leather shoes and wool uniform in the summer--what fun!

I'm not worried about the clothing. We can check that in the luggage, (wrapped in plastic, of course). When you work a black powder cannon, grains of black powder become embedded in the skin of the face and hands, too deep to scrub everything out (from firing it).
Kinda like this.......

At least I did find out that we're not going till '08, so we have some time to figure out all the details.

We are planning on working on somebody else's cannon, so we should not have to ship any of our own stuff up or back, besides our personal items and ourselves.

[HYHYBT]

Why anyone would think those jokes were funny is beyond me.

I don't know why either, but it's probably the same reason they think "I just printed that this morning" is funny when you look for the watermark in a bill...

He started joking about how it was "the shiv I shoved up my ass"...

Oh dear, that was exceptionally stupid. Unless he enjoyed that sort of search...

My wife and I had taken a cruise for our honeymoon, and got back only three days before 9/11. How scary is that?

Our store managers (and higher) were on a cruise that week, and wound up driving back.

[Jester]

A friend of mine, like myself, is a magician. He does a lot of traveling for his trade, and in his act, he does do some minor fire work. Now, one thing he does he needs a particular lighter for, and he has told me it is easy to find...until he needs it, then it is impossible. So he travels with said lighters...and yes, he knows how to pack them in his luggage so he has never had an issue with it. (I don't know if it is checked or carry-on luggage, but I would assume it is checked.)

As for flying, well, my mother stopped flying YEARS before 9/11, as she was never better than a white knuckle flyer anyway. Three YEARS before 9/11, my parents went to my sister's wedding in NJ. From AZ. BY CAR. Did I mention my mother WON'T FLY anymore?

Myself, I have only been pulled aside twice at security checkpoints. Every other time, I seem to be invisible to security, and I don't know why. My ex-fiancee, all of 5'3" and barely over 100 lbs., got pulled aside more frequently than I did, and trust me, I am far shiftier looking than she is. The only times I DID get pulled aside were (1) when I forgot to put my cell phone through the conveyor, leaving it on my hip to go DING when I walked through the metal detector, and (2) the one time I was RUSHING through the airport to make my flight, since U.S. Scare...er, uh, U.S. Air totally butchered my reservations. (I still have not sent them the nasty letter I was composing. It was the worst travel experience of my LIFE. Think five months after the fact is too late to bitch? )

[Bliss]

rule number 99: dont ever be stupid enough to walk through LAX on the annaversiary of 911 wearing a t shirt with "MOROCCO" on it, you will be stopped by every single security agent from check in to the plane, your bag will be searched time and time again and you will be questioned numerous times

and it will be your own damn fault!

I hope this doesn't begins the end of my account but of all this topic this one I HAD to respond to, sorry Raps, sincerely.

Kiwi, sorry to say this, but do you realize you're saying that a racist attitude is the fault of the victim of racism?

Morocco is a country, it's a nationality, it's not the name of a criminal, a terrorist, a criminal profession, a weapon or a form of destruction or death, Morocco is a country. A nationality.

Say, if a guy wears a T-Shirt saying "San Francisco" in the bible belt he deserves to be beaten in the street because there are gays living in SF?

[Ree]

Actually, I think you're reading more into kiwi's comment, and she was just speaking from personal experience as to what happened to her.