travelogue - short trip down and up from seattle to san francisco. 

 

so riddle me this.  and *disclaimer* i am not usually one to rant about the tsa or the fabulous contributions they make to national security, however, there is a limit.  there has to be a limit.  right? right? 

 

back to riddling.  i prepare for my flight by diligently checking the website to ensure i'm following the latest and greatest in home land security advisements.  the latest being all liquids/gels/creams etc must be placed in a 1 gallon clear plastic bag and must contain no more than 3 oz of that substance if it is going in your carry on.  ok gotcha.

 

deodorant 2.7 oz - check

lotion 1.0 oz travel size - check

toothpaste - less then half of a 6.2 oz tube - check

leave shampoo and conditioner at home - will pick some up in sf - check

placed in a nice clear zip lock container - check

 

i'm golden.  and a few hours later i'm in the security screening line feeling rather smug at my preparedness.  in fact feeling so smug i chuckle to myself as i check out the guy in front of me who has what appears to be four large glass containers with apple scented candles in them.  all four are in a wooden box that has rope wrapped around it and look like rather menacing could-be bomb like devices.  i think - "there is no way they are going to let him take that on a plane".  i mean they just took away some lady's eye cream and pitched it in the large 30 gallon black trash can filled to the brim with orphaned toiletries. 

 

amazingly enough - he gets through with no problems - i waggle my eyebrows and think - "well that was unexpected".  so i'm breezing through after him and get trapped by the cracker jack terrorism preventing tsa agent who holds in front of me in a very accusatory way my tube of crest regular tooth paste.  she says "sorry maam but this cannot go on board, all containers must be less than three ounces - this is 6.2".  me not catching the subtlety of her point says, "oh but there is less than half in there" and watch as she simultaneously explains they can't be expected to measure all substances and tosses my tube in the can.  wow.  just wow.  simply wow.  *sighs*

 

recap:  large - half - poundish - glass containers of flammable materials = ++ good

recap:  less than half of a 6.2 oz tube of creamy crest toothpaste = ++bad

 

b.