Beware of grannies with snow globes!

[mmadi]

I got so mad at TSA yesterday! They confiscated a snow globe from an elderly lady in a wheelchair. It was a gift for her grandaughter. Yes, it contained a liquid but is there no gray area in which common sense resides? I was so furious! Did I mention I am a Customer Service Agent for an airline? I asked the head of Talking and Standing Around if I could retrieve the contraband snow globe and mail it to our customer but he cheerfully (that made me even angrier!) informed me that it was gone for good, by which he may have meant on the way to a TSA worker's grandaughter. So thanks for letting me vent. But it didn't help. I'm still mad.

[jfrenaye]

That sucks! YOu tried to do a nice thing and once again stupidity and mediocrity gets in the way!

[NW CTC]

At least you tried - that counts for a lot.

I wonder if it would be possible to leak the story to the press?

[Loonbeam]

First, Major karma points to you for doing the right thing, and I'm not defending the TSA agent's intransigence, but...

At least around here, it was almost impossible to not be aware that the TSA was paying special attention to snow globes. Every news program had a segment on it, it was covered in the local papers, AND I caught at least one ad on television about it!

Despite concerns about HOW he was doing his job, the TSA agent WAS doing his job, under the instructions he was given (the sanity of those is a different topic).

[tdew]

At least around here, it was almost impossible to not be aware that the TSA was paying special attention to snow globes. Every news program had a segment on it, it was covered in the local papers, AND I caught at least one ad on television about it!

I missed it completely ahead of time in the NYC area.

[wrp96]

At least around here, it was almost impossible to not be aware that the TSA was paying special attention to snow globes. Every news program had a segment on it, it was covered in the local papers, AND I caught at least one ad on television about it!


Same thing here.

[mmadi]

At least around here, it was almost impossible to not be aware that the TSA was paying special attention to snow globes. Every news program had a segment on it, it was covered in the local papers, AND I caught at least one ad on television about it!

I work two jobs so I barely catch the weather report. I found out about Hulk Hogan's divorce as I passed the lounge in our concourse and the news was on.

But if snow globe confiscation was all over the news, why did we not tell TSA they were going too far? If the spooks intercepted comuniques between terrorists planning to use old ladies to blow up planes with snow globes, they might have warned us. Maybe someone at TSA stalks the holdiay displays at Walmart imagining ways to blow up planes. Perhaps the syrupy filling in chocolate covered cherries could be drained and substituted with explosives so make sure you don't carry them on for your sweetie if you fly on Valentine's Day.

[NW CTC]

Yes, the TSA official was doing his job - whatever we think about it. However, I'm sure he could have found a way to make the situatio work, if he wanted to. I also doubt that it was "gone for good" at the point MMADI discussed it with him.

[Loonbeam]

Please don't even suggest the chococherries.. I carry those as snacks!!

[cole75]

I completely understand the TSA for not allowing the passenger thru with it but I do not understand why they wouldn't give it to an airline customer service employee to take (they aren't going on the plane!) so that the "snowglob in question" could be mailed to the client (bravo to you on being pro-customer service, there aren't that many of you out there).

When the no sharp objects rule first came out after 9/11 a friend of mine had a pocket knife in her carry on and the airline mailed it to her as her luggage was already checked thru.

[ARTraveler]

How ridiculous can TSA get? I flew with a group to Barcelona early in December and was absolutly sure that my aunt was going to have to ditch at least 90% of her makeup, as she had it in a several quart bags. TSA didn't say one word to her.

If they would use a bit of common sense, even occasionally, I might be more accepting of incidents like the snowglobe one, but TSA really has no clue!

[Ned]

AB, the liquid rule doesn't make us one bit safer and should be eschewed immediately. As for using common sense, they don't have any, and I say that as a blanket statement. I have yet to meet a single TSA employee that I would hire for any business I've ever run.

[mmadi]

Thanks for all the comisseration. I have calmed down somewhat. When I first started working at the airport, TSA confiscated my expensive perspiration-proof makeup. I am embarassed to admit I threw quite a tantrum, including a vow that I would never step in their line again. I have an all access ID. I can get to my concourse across the ramp. Within a week, a tropical storm came to town and to avoid the TSA line I had to ride to the gate entrance in a baggage mule with zippered plastic doors, zippers broken. I was completely soaked, but I refused to go through the TSA line. I doubt they noticed and if they had, they would have laughed like my coworkers did. Then I had to travel for a week of training and we are not allowed to bypass TSA with carry ons. They took a can of ravioli. At least I have the warm feeling of providing some TSA worker with a hearty lunch.

I almost said I wish they would not be so inconsistent but I am glad they are. My friend and I traveled together, I with my one quart plastic bag, she with an overflowing gallon bag. On our third pass through TSA we met up with a nit-picker who overlooked her supersized bag but gave us a long lecture because we did not remove our plastic bags and put them on top of our carry ons. So I am generally in favor of inconsistent TSA folks because when they are lazy, it works in our favor and since I have no reason to believe they actually prevent terrorism, I do not feel our safety is compromised by their inconsistency.

[RGoltsch]

AB, the liquid rule doesn't make us one bit safer and should be eschewed immediately. As for using common sense, they don't have any, and I say that as a blanket statement. I have yet to meet a single TSA employee that I would hire for any business I've ever run.

Ned,
You speak volumes with this one paragraph. It is truly sad and dangerous that these people are one of the last lines of defense in protecting the skies.

I used to work with a man who was not afraid to speak his mind about some coworkers. His comment about a fellow electrical engineer stuck with me, even though I haven't seen him for years. "I wouldn't trust that man to wire my doorbell." I think of that phrase every now and then as I pass through security.