By Kacie Svoboda
Recent national headlines have exclaimed the frustration with the TSA’s handling of security at major airports. Last week, 400 passengers at O’Hare International missed flights and had to sleep on cots in the airport due to a three-hour wait in security lines.
Now, instead of trying to ensure the security lines move faster, passengers are being asked by airlines to show up at least three hours before their scheduled flights. However, these headlines seemed distant nuisances until I tried to bring a bobblehead through a security checkpoint at the Kansas City International Airport.
I have traveled pretty extensively, so I thought I was prepared. I had gone online to check in for my flight, my boarding passes were on my phone, my quart-size Ziploc full of three-ounce liquid containers was in an easily accessible pocket and I knew my carry-on was within the airlines required dimensions. I stepped up to the security line and removed my shoes and jacket. I placed my Ziploc bag, laptop and bags on the conveyor belt and watched as they disappeared into the x-ray machine.
I went through the body scanner just fine but then that’s when things went from smooth sailing to a total standstill. My carry on’s contents were on the screen and the TSA agents behind the x-ray machine were staring at the readout with furrowed brows. I knew that wasn’t good and, sure enough, a few moments later one of the agents grabbed my bag off the conveyor, held it up and asked, “Who does this belong to? We’re going to have to search it.”
I followed him over to a metal examination table and watched as he opened it up and swabbed the rim of the bag with a test strip. He then inserted the strip into a machine and we waited for it to beep the all clear. Then he poked around inside my bag, extracting my extremely suspicious looking electric toothbrush and my Kansas City Royals bobblehead.
I’ve never owned a bobblehead before and don’t think I ever would have if not for recently attending my first pro-baseball game on “bobblehead night.”This is apparently a big deal in Kansas City, as they give away free Royals bobbleheads to ticket holders.
While it was neat to have a souvenir to commemorate my first Royals experience, I nearly left it behind, as it took up too much space in my bag. However, upon seeing my friend’s downtrodden look at the idea of leaving this prized memento behind, I stripped the bobblehead of it’s packaging and made it fit.
Now, I wished I hadn’t. The TSA agent pulled out another strip and swabbed the bobblehead, explaining that bobbleheads appear “a funny color” on the x-ray readout. The machine again confirmed that there wasn’t any bomb goo or whatever else they were testing for on my bobblehead. But it and my toothbrush still had to be run through the x-ray machine on their own — putting the items of the regular, bobblehead-free passengers on hold.
Then my bag had to be x-rayed again, making those in line more irate. As I stood there staring back into the livid faces of my fellow passengers, I considered when this process would end and if I needed to worry about the angered mob behind me grabbing my bobblehead and beating me unconscious with it. I had visions of becoming part of a national news headline: “Hundreds miss flights in Kansas City due to bobblehead bomb scare.”
As the time until departure ticked down, I seriously considered offering to leave it behind but figured that would just arouse the TSA agents’ suspicions even more — especially if I sprinted toward my gate, yelling, “Forget the bobblehead!”
However, the last pass through the x-ray machine apparently confirmed that I was not a terrorist and I was free to repack my back and go. I managed to make it to my flight on time but I’ve learned a very valuable lesson from this experience: never, ever try to fly with a bobblehead in carry-on luggage. It’s really not worth it and your fellow travelers and the TSA will thank you.
Recent national headlines have exclaimed the frustration with the TSA’s handling of security at major airports. Last week, 400 passengers at O’Hare International missed flights and had to sleep on cots in the airport due to a three-hour wait in security lines.
Now, instead of trying to ensure the security lines move faster, passengers are being asked by airlines to show up at least three hours before their scheduled flights. However, these headlines seemed distant nuisances until I tried to bring a bobblehead through a security checkpoint at the Kansas City International Airport.
I have traveled pretty extensively, so I thought I was prepared. I had gone online to check in for my flight, my boarding passes were on my phone, my quart-size Ziploc full of three-ounce liquid containers was in an easily accessible pocket and I knew my carry-on was within the airlines required dimensions. I stepped up to the security line and removed my shoes and jacket. I placed my Ziploc bag, laptop and bags on the conveyor belt and watched as they disappeared into the x-ray machine.
I went through the body scanner just fine but then that’s when things went from smooth sailing to a total standstill. My carry on’s contents were on the screen and the TSA agents behind the x-ray machine were staring at the readout with furrowed brows. I knew that wasn’t good and, sure enough, a few moments later one of the agents grabbed my bag off the conveyor, held it up and asked, “Who does this belong to? We’re going to have to search it.”
I followed him over to a metal examination table and watched as he opened it up and swabbed the rim of the bag with a test strip. He then inserted the strip into a machine and we waited for it to beep the all clear. Then he poked around inside my bag, extracting my extremely suspicious looking electric toothbrush and my Kansas City Royals bobblehead.
I’ve never owned a bobblehead before and don’t think I ever would have if not for recently attending my first pro-baseball game on “bobblehead night.”This is apparently a big deal in Kansas City, as they give away free Royals bobbleheads to ticket holders.
While it was neat to have a souvenir to commemorate my first Royals experience, I nearly left it behind, as it took up too much space in my bag. However, upon seeing my friend’s downtrodden look at the idea of leaving this prized memento behind, I stripped the bobblehead of it’s packaging and made it fit.
Now, I wished I hadn’t. The TSA agent pulled out another strip and swabbed the bobblehead, explaining that bobbleheads appear “a funny color” on the x-ray readout. The machine again confirmed that there wasn’t any bomb goo or whatever else they were testing for on my bobblehead. But it and my toothbrush still had to be run through the x-ray machine on their own — putting the items of the regular, bobblehead-free passengers on hold.
Then my bag had to be x-rayed again, making those in line more irate. As I stood there staring back into the livid faces of my fellow passengers, I considered when this process would end and if I needed to worry about the angered mob behind me grabbing my bobblehead and beating me unconscious with it. I had visions of becoming part of a national news headline: “Hundreds miss flights in Kansas City due to bobblehead bomb scare.”
As the time until departure ticked down, I seriously considered offering to leave it behind but figured that would just arouse the TSA agents’ suspicions even more — especially if I sprinted toward my gate, yelling, “Forget the bobblehead!”
However, the last pass through the x-ray machine apparently confirmed that I was not a terrorist and I was free to repack my back and go. I managed to make it to my flight on time but I’ve learned a very valuable lesson from this experience: never, ever try to fly with a bobblehead in carry-on luggage. It’s really not worth it and your fellow travelers and the TSA will thank you.