41–50 of 266 posts
"Behind me, I could hear a woman making a big scene because her “flight [was] at 4:15,” and her gigantic bag was clearly never going to fit on the airplane. She claimed multiple times that “the lady” told her she could bring it through security."
And convince the TSA to do what we do at Indian airports:
plinkplonk 9 minutes ago
How this works in India. When you put your laptop in a bin, the security person puts one of two identical tags (pieces of plastic with identical numbers on them) into the bin, on top of your computer and gives you the other one. When you finish your patdown/metal detector etc screening and want to take your computer back, you give the security person at the other end of the line your tag, she looks around for the bin with the identical tag, and hands you the contents of the bin and takes your tag back. Not foolproof/fraudproof, but it seems to work in practice. reply
They would make an exchange in a place where there are no cameras.
The person who took it would have a story ready in case she was challenged.
As for the TSA - they want to pretend that the incident never happened, because it would make them them look bad.
I don't really understand the importance of this story. Sure it's annoying and a huge inconvenience for the OP and I'm genuinely sorry for him. But it's a lost laptop. How often does this happen? Can you think of a way of changing the process that would result in a net benefit for everyone? If this story was "TSA gave away my diamond necklace" or "Nightclub cloakroom hands bag to wrong customer" we would recognise th…
At CDG airport a few weeks ago we encountered a straightforward process I'd not seen before – items going through the screening are associated with your boarding pass. It had no significant effect on the speed of the procedure, and it provides accountability for objects. I don't fully understand why it's not standard practice.
Then again, we know very well by know that these checks does not have much to do with actual security.
[1] I have no reason to believe they'd react to a bomb with sufficient urgency to stop anyone from walking off. I've left bottles of liquid in many times (by accident), and they don't usually notice. They have noticed my sons game console (was bringing it with us to his grandparents and didn't think to take it out of the carry-on), but it's not like they reacted with any urgency - they just put it aside and waited for us to come over and point at it before dealing with it.
I don't like how the author fusses about someone else who was arguable also similarly being abused by the TSA: "Behind me, I could hear a woman making a big scene because her “flight [was] at 4:15,” and her gigantic bag was clearly never going to fit on the airplane. She claimed multiple times that “the lady” told her she could bring it through security."
I'm surprised that everyone is focusing on the TSA for giving his computer away (awful), but to me, the even more objectionable thing is that THE WOMAN TOOK A RANDOM COMPUTER and just left with it. Any reasonable person would say "that is not mine", or am I being too naive? And, since she didn't do that, there was clearly malice involved, so the police were also clearly in the wrong, saying that it was an accident an…
How this works in India. When you put your laptop in a bin, the security person puts one of two identical tags (pieces of plastic with identical numbers on them) into the bin, on top of your computer and gives you the other one. When you finish your patdown/metal detector etc screening and want to take your computer back, you give the security person at the other end of the line your tag, she looks around for the bin…
What is the OP's setup (and what are some alternatives), that he is so sure this was the case?
I'm surprised that everyone is focusing on the TSA for giving his computer away (awful), but to me, the even more objectionable thing is that THE WOMAN TOOK A RANDOM COMPUTER and just left with it. Any reasonable person would say "that is not mine", or am I being too naive? And, since she didn't do that, there was clearly malice involved, so the police were also clearly in the wrong, saying that it was an accident an…
To be fair, MacBook Pros pretty much all look the same on the outside. She probabaly just thought it was hers, stuffed it in her bag, and went to catch her flight.
On a side note: do people not keep their laptops in sleeves (even when in backpacks)?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's exactly what happened in Brussels. "And besides, if we made airplanes completely safe, the terrorists would simply start bombing other places that are crowded. Porn shops, crack houses, titty bars, and gangbangs. You know, entertainment venues." George Carlin, 1999
Exactly what happened in Brussels. There the bombs were detonated in the check in departures hall before the security area. What happened afterwards is even more absurd. They organized a security check before entering the departures hall, leading to massive 3 hour waiting lines outside the building. Clearly protecting the building is far more important than the security of the people in the waiting line.
It's a sad situation, modern democracy and twitter have merged into a flurry of overactivity and fake outrage.