November 3rd, 2009
#886 – Delayed
There are some scenes in movies now that seem so foreign. It usually involves the main character realizing his plane leaves in a half hour, driving crazily down the highway, running full speed through an airport and down the jetway to make it to the plane just as the door is closing. They of course open the door back up after all the furious knocking and let him on board. I think there are now robotic dogs that will taser you if you so much as jog in a terminal.
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:20 am
My mom used to travel all the time, on one of her trips they searched her bag because the X-ray guy thought she had a firearm. It was a bottle of shampoo.
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:24 am
@The Dustin: Of course, now either will get you in trouble. What a sad state we’re living in.
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:26 am
It really depends on which airport you’re flying through. Major airports have much worse security than, say, the local Bakersfield airport.
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:35 am
@The Dustin, yet they still let me carry my laptop battery on board. I will never understand the logic.
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:47 am
Just HOW would a person take over a plane with shampoo? Just wondering.
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:54 am
hahaha, it’s been a while since I’ve laughed out loud at a Biff.
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:27 am
This is the week of waiting!
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:31 am
Ah, airport security. @ JC, made me laugh because I read the XKCD comic http://www.xkcd.com/651/
I recall a particular incident where I bought an airsoft gun in california and had to explain to security that it was in my checked luggage with no batteries or ammunition for a reason. I felt like an idiot for a few weeks after that.
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:47 am
@Phage83, It’s not so much the shampoo, but the nitroglycerin (or other such explosive/poisonous liquid) that could be hiding in the bottle. That’s why the TSA has restricted liquids in carry-ons to 3 oz bottles, and only as many as can fit in a 1 quart Ziploc.
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:47 am
The last time I went through USA to go somewhere was awful. What the hell is up with the removing your shoes? And then unpacking my carefully packed backpack and giving it back to me? if they’re going to do that why do they even have that xray thing there?
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:16 am
@Mouserz
The shoe thing is cause some idiot got the idea to put explosives in their shoes in few years ago after they imposed the 3oz bottle rule. Since then, they ubercheck EVERYTHING. Be glad they haven’t made body cavity searches MANDATORY (shudders)
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:33 am
Use to work for the Dept. Of State. Flew international, on average, 4 times a year. I personally loved El Al’s way of doing things. They would load and unload the plain two or three times. Everyone got searched, researched, searched again, and then start all over. This was back in the good old days when you could carry just about anything on board. I for one am GLAD that they are so overzealous. two or three hours of my time is better than dead.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:02 am
I recently had to run through a London terminal to catch a flight after queuing at check-in for nearly an hour and a half. If anyone had tried to stop me after I’d been delayed that long by their inept colleagues at bag drop, I probably would have beaten them to death with their own shoes.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:53 am
I don’t travel much, but even if I did I wouldn’t fly these days. Airline security has gotten just insane. The worst part is, most of the rules seem to be little more than a knee-jerk reaction to the latest bit of idiocy. I wouldn’t mind quite so much if I believed for one second that taking away my fingernail clippers actually made anyone safer.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:13 am
@Zephir: We? How do you know what state I live in?
@Aoeu: The trick is to go back and re-read all the Biffs, I always stumble across ones I’ve forgotten that I loved.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:22 am
DON’T RUN BIFF!!!
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Whoo, I’m a bit of an idiot today, it took me a bit to get this one.
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:40 pm
It’s been years since I last took a flight. The last time there was a 9 hour delay on the flight. Found out later it was because an engine had fallen off the plane we were supposed to have. After that, security doesn’t seem much like a problem.
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Last time I flew… I got pulled aside for “additional screening”. Had a chat with the gentleman searching me about how security has gotten beefed up so much. Good times.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:56 pm
wow 12 hours…. wonder if he gets paid for all that trouble
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Phage83: “Just HOW would a person take over a plane with shampoo? Just wondering.”
“Take me to Cuba or I wash everyone’s hair!” ;-p
Tigergulp: “@Mouserz The shoe thing is cause some idiot got the idea to put explosives in their shoes in few years ago after they imposed the 3oz bottle rule.”
Sorry, but the “shoe bomber” incident happened *before* the so-called “London liquid bomb plot”. The more you know…
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I’ve never flown before, but I’ve heard enough “horror stories” to know what not to bring. No way could I wait twelve hours…
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:52 pm
If you really want to get thier panties in a wad, try packing your belongings into an empty gun case. then time yourself on how long it takes you to get to your seat on the plane. My guess is some where around 14 hours.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:10 pm
I have a dream that someday traveling by plane will have some conveniences other than peanuts and getting there fast.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:21 am
@The Dustin: I meant state as in condition, not state as in territory.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
The terrorists have won, we live in terror.
December 23rd, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Man, for real! I was reading a James Bond novel, “Diamonds are Forever”, and Bond was undercover, smuggling diamonds to America, so when he’s on the plane, the flight security’s checking his luggage and they’re like, “Hey, what’s in this pocket (where the diamonds are)?” and Bond says, “Oh, just some golf balls,” and the security’s like “Cool, golf! Go right ahead!”
December 30th, 2009 at 8:37 am
@ JSW: Most of the airlines have 86′d the peanuts. So now it’s just getting there fast.
January 25th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
I saw a movie from the 70’s “Parallax” I think, where the protagonist strolls onto a plane, finds a seat and then a sort of conductor comes around for people to buy tickets! It looked awfully convenient, was it really like that anywhere back then?