Flying was one of those unnecessary evils I thought I could live without! I was perfectly happy to travel through life with my feet firmly planted on the ground! Than one lovely spring day when I was about 47 years old, our feed consultant offered us an all expenses paid farm tour to MO. We would be touring the Purina calf and heifer facilities. I wanted to go very badly, anything to better my dairy calf operation! There was one drawback...we had to fly! I just knew I would hate flying! And I was right! I was sick the whole way to St Louis! We finished our tour which was well worth the rocky flight down! Going through security in St Louis for the flight home I was jerked out of line and given the special 20 minute pat down, even the bottoms of my feet were under scrutiny. Our whole group of 30 people stood off to the side and tried not to watch! I had never went through that before and I can say I haven't gone through one that excruciating since!
Am I the only one who has issues with the TSA? I can count on three fingers the times I have gotten through security without a hitch. If I do happen to breeze my way through security, opening my suitcase at my final destination brings the TSA up-close and very personal!
When I walk through the scanner, there are always three points that light up on the screen..my head, because of all the hardware I have in my hair, I understand that! My hip, as of 2013 is now full of titanium, which I also understand. And my left wrist! why my wrist? I don't wear a wristwatch and haven't since I ran over it at the bank about 27 years ago, so what is the attraction with my wrist? They don't have a clue, but it gives them a good excuse to pull me aside to swab my hands and the bottoms of my feet, and run their magic wand over me. I know it will happen every time I fly now, so we try to give ourselves extra time for the TSA to enjoy their little mission.
Now my suitcase is another story! I always seem to find that nice little note that reads something to this effect, " your luggage has been chosen to be physically inspected by a TSA official." It is always plastered to the bottom of my suitcase. That tells me they take everything out and then they must stand 50 feet away to throw it all back in!
One time I opened my suitcase to find trail mix scattered through all my clothes. It was in one of those plastic containers you need to tear a plastic strip off to get it open. I had planned to use it for a hostess gift but instead I had the pleasure of shaking peanuts and raisins out of everything!! And there at the bottom I found a nice little note!
Another time I was transporting frozen bacon from PA to ID...Okay! I have gotten a lot of grief for this one from my own family!! Who flies with a suitcase full of bacon...long story short...I don't anymore!! :) I had it in ziplock bags then double bagged in grocery bags...so my clothes wouldn't smell like bacon! I might as well not even bothered! and then there was that note again!
The last time we flew, I wanted to take carryon's for the 10 days we were going to be gone. After filling two small suitcases with just Rob's clothes, I knew I had two options. Either wear all my extra clothing or break down and check a bag! Since my experiences at the security checkpoint are less than favorable, wearing all my extra clothing probably wouldn't go over well. So we checked a suitcase! We enjoyed our ten days and arrived back at the Boise Airport to discover our suitcase was still back in Detroit! Three days later our wayward suitcase arrived home. As I started emptying it I found total chaos! I try to keep things organized to a certain degree, so to help save space I put all our toiletries in three or four ziplock bags. Every bag was slashed! Thankfully nothing had exploded, which has happened before too! Then I found some smashed and broken items! I don't know how you can smash a medication organizer box, but the TSA did! My 5 lb. block of cheese and the fruitcake that I acquired from my niece were unharmed! That was a huge blessing! :) and then I found the note!
I always thought of myself as pretty easy to get along with, but the TSA has just stood on my last nerve!
Next time we fly...we are going with the bare minimum...so if you see me at a church function and I am wearing the same dress all week, its not the only dress I own...I just don't enjoy picking up the pieces left by the TSA.
