"Sir, Your Toothpaste is too Big..."

By Kevin

aquafresh_small.JPGKudos to the TSA screeners at Dayton International Airport!

They are the first team out of about a dozen airports to realize that my half-empty 5oz tube of Aquafresh Extreme Clean -- securely grouped with my other liquid bottles and gel tubes in the ubiqitous clear quart-sized plastic bag -- violated security regs.

Screeners at far bigger airports -- including Dulles, National, and Los Angeles -- have missed my too-large toothpaste, even during the deadest off-peak travel times. I've gone through so many times with that one Aquafresh tube, I hadn't even given its contraband size another thought. Perhaps the screeners have all missed it until yesterday it because I usually lay out the clear bag on its own tray, in full view. Yesterday, I crammed them in with other items, and the pre-screener did her job right.

Granted the TSA at Dayton missed the toothpaste last month, but hey, nobody's perfect.

-- December 29, 2006 9:51 AM |

Comments

KipEsquire wrote:

But remember, "It is better to feel safe than to be safe."

-- December 29, 2006 10:51 AM ∞

Kevin Brancato wrote:

I told the screener to just throw it out, and she did.

"It is better to feel safe than have clean teeth."

But it occurred to me just now that since all the paste was on the cap side, I could have just taken out my scissor, snipped the tube in half, and shoved it back in the plastic bag. Does a 5oz tube of toothpaste cut in half meet security regs?

The world may never know.

-- December 29, 2006 11:43 AM ∞

Mr. ATA wrote:

You forgot the coveted 311 rule! 1-pax gets: 1 quartsized bag, and each item can only have 3 ounces!

5 ounces is much to big! You knowingly violated the law by having too much toothpaste 8O

[/sarcasm]

-- July 13, 2007 5:10 AM ∞

Post a comment