Whenever you see the caution tape at the top of my blog, it means I'm doing a bit of ranting. It's probably one of those things that we will be able to laugh at down the road but at the moment of writing it's like what a nurse says just before a shot, "now there will be a pinch and then a little sting."
My wife just returned from a work trip to Montana. Her work covered all of her related expenses. However, she did not have a lot of extra money to buy all of the souvenirs for me and the 6 kids, so as she spent time there she learned that Montana was famous for "Huckleberry Syrup". It's described on the internet as a sweet, sticky, purple liquid. It's used on pancakes, waffles, or whatever. I honestly don't know. I've never had it before.
Anyway, Thursday night, my wife packed her suitcase and her carry on luggage because she had to leave her hotel at 4:45 for the perfunctory two hour arrival time. She flew on an airline who for this story shall remain nameless. Now, quick question, "would you pack a glass jar of sticky huckleberry syrup in your suitcase and risk it being damaged by the baggage handlers would you keep it with you in your carry on?"
You probably know where this is going. My wife packed her luggage and put the large bottle of Huckleberry Syrup into her carry on backpack. Not a problem for her. For the TSA agent working security "big problem". If you have flown recently, you know that for liquids such as shampoo, conditioner, mouth wash, to be "approved" as carry on, they have to be less than 3 oz. And her full size glass bottle of sweet, delicious (I'm assuming) Montana Huckleberry Syrup was larger than 3 ounces.
The TSA worker (who will also remain nameless, since I don't know his name) gave her four options: 1)throw it away, or 2)dump the syrup out and keep the bottle, 3)put it on as "checked baggage", or 4)take it back out and leave it in your car. She tried to explain that this was the only souvenir she had from her trip to Montana for her family, that she didn't have a car she could put it in because she was going home and she wasn't going to pay $30 to check it in as a "bag". And while he seemed apologetic, she was down to two options. . . 1)throw it away, 2)dump the syrup out and keep the bottle.
My wife being the great negotiator asked, "Can I dump out most of it so it's less than 3 oz. and keep the rest of it." Response: No. So my wife took a completely full unopened bottle of Huckleberry Syrup and threw it away. I wasn't there but I can imagine she shed some tears as she saw the only souvenir she could afford fall into a trash can.
Now, I've been thinking about this and the more I think about it, the more upset I become. As my wife has said, "I'm glad that people are concerned about our safety" and I agree with her. However, I have "googled" the following question, "how many attacks with huckleberry syrup have been in the news"? The answer: None (as far as I can tell). If you happen to google it and find an incident worth noting, feel free to let me know. I "googled" this second question, "what dangerous fluids does huckleberry syrup look like"? The answer: None. Again, if you find evidence to the contrary, please let me know.
And it wasn't even the fact that the syrup was in a glass bottle because the TSA agent told my wife she could dump out the syrup and take the glass jar with her. So you know what I "googled" next don't you? That's right, "attacks with broken glass jar in the news". Any of those?
Check it out:
http://www.10news.com/news/glass-bottle-instigates-attack-at-condo-pool-06162013
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2013/07/31/455533_crime-and-court-news.html
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/teenager-serious-condition-after-being-3659146
http://northhollywood.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/north-hollywood-patrol-officers-injured-by-glass-bott29a130cd11
To mention just a few.
So essentially my wife was told, sure take the glass bottle, an item that could be broken and used as a weapon onto the plane but pour out the huckleberry syrup that has no connection to dangerous activity at all. Does that not seem strange to anyone else?
Leave the syrup, take the glass.
Can I propose a fifth option that could have and in my opinion should have been given? What if my wife had walked into the airport with the bottle of Huckleberry Syrup in her backpack and the agent from TSA had said, "I'm sorry but you can't take this on the plane. You have five options. 1)Throw it away. 2)Dump out the syrup but keep the glass. 3)Stick it in your car so you can get it when you come back, 4)Pay for it to go as "baggage" or 5)Go over to the kiosk for the USPS (United States Posal Service) and for a minimal fee, they can help you wrap your jar and mail it to your house.
I imagine that not only my wife but thousands of other people who travel every year would appreciate the chance to use a service where when they happen to forget something in their carry-on bag that's against regulations, they can ship it on to their house via the USPS. Not only that but it seems to me that this would be a win/win for the USPS as they look for ways to raise their financial revenues. If you are interested in this, you can read this report from July, 2013. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43162.pdf. The immediate benefit to the USPS would be that transportation costs would be limited to the delivery of the package and since airports are by and large run by local, state, and federal government agencies, the conflict of interests would be minimal.
Of course, the only downside I can see is if the postal worker goes postal. But that's another story altogether . . .
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