I’ve not been on a plane since well before 9/11 and now I don’t have any desire to go on one again anytime soon.
My problems began with arriving at BWI and having to proceed through the security gate. It was my turn to go through the metal detector and when I did so a woman pointed at me and said “Take your shoes off.” And out of surprise, I said “Really?” I looked around and saw that everyone else had their shoes off and I said “Oh Weird.”
But before I could remove my shoes, a big burly man pointed at me and said “Step out of the line.” I was then led to a side room and given a very rough and very extensive pat down. After which, I was questioned for 20 minutes about who I was, what I was doing, and where I was going.
Eventually they decided I wasn’t a threat and released me. When I complained about the rude treatment I was merely given a survey to fill out. I did so and made sure nearly every one of my answers were smart-ass-like.
About an hour and a half before my flight was set to take off, I finally managed to reach my boarding gate. I got a coffee and then sat down and chilled in a chair. As time ticked by, my bladder started to fill and fill, until finally I seriously had to pee.
I picked up my two bags (a lap top case and a duffle bag) and went to the bathroom. Once I got in there I was surprised because there was no where for me to put my stuff while I peed. There were no shelves or racks or anything. My only option was to put them on the wet bathroom floor. I wasn’t going to do that cause that’s just gross.
So I set my two bags down right outside the bathroom entrance. I then peed, washed my hands, and exited the bathroom to get my bags. That’s when I had my second run-in with security.
Apparently, when you are in an airport you have to keep all your belongings with you at all time. Like…. With you, with you. I tried to explain to the security guard that I had to pee and that there was nowhere in the bathroom that I could place my bags while I peed. He didn’t follow my logic and as a result I was lead to another private room where I received another rough pat down.
Then another security guard entered and the second guard went through my bags questioning me on almost everything in them. He gave me a really hard time on several items. The first was a bottle of Allegra-D. He wanted to know why I had it and if I could prove it was actually allegra inside of it.
The second problem was that I had several graphic novels with me. I had planned to read them on the plane. I had “DMZ” volumes 1, 2 & 3, “The Nightly News,” and “Artemis Fowl.” The guard flipped through “DMZ” saw a ravaged New York City and them immediately called for two other security guards to join him in the room. I was then questioned for over an hour about the comics and why I had them. I was point blank asked if I was a terrorist or if I ever had desires to harm other. The whole ordeal was completely ridiculous. I can understand them being cautious but going ballistic because of the graphic novels I had with me is taking it too far.
I told them that I was the Executive Editor of Th3rd World Studios, an independent comic book company, and that as a result I always try to read as many other comics/graphic novels so that I know what’s out there. I explained that DMZ had gotten a lot of positive reviews and so I decided it was time I finally read it. But they didn’t seem to care. All they saw was comics with “terrorism” and felt that it was suspicious.
Looking back I understand now that I should have never left my stuff outside of the airport bathroom, but to go crazy over graphic novels is ridiculous. I’m sure they’ve never accused someone with a season of “24″ of being a terrorist. But comics, apparently not being as mainstream as I’ve hoped, are seen as this mysterious dark thing. It’s ignorance like this that makes the general public think comics are just for kids or that comics are ONLY superheroes. It’s sad.
Eventually they decided that I actually was an editor. I don’t know how or why. Because one second they were giving me hell and then a few minutes later they acted like they had known all along. For some reason I sort of suspected they must of done a google search or something. Of course by the time they let me go I had missed my flight. Southwest put me on another one and I eventually made it to Cleveland (pics I took on the plane can be seen here).
But that wasn’t end of the drama.
Several days later when I returned to the Cleveland airport to head back to Baltimore. I found out that Southwest over booked my flight to BWI and that I was being bumped to a later flight. HOURS and HOURS and HOURS later I finally landed in Baltimore and drove home. When I got home I started to unpack and was shocked to see that all my stuff had been trashed!
Apparently my bags were searched by TSA agents and they were very disrespectful to my stuff. For example, in my suitcase I had a bottle of shampoo taped shut, wrapped in a towel, and sealed in a plastic bag. But whoever searched my suitcase decided not to re-seal the shampoo. As a result all my stuff was covered in it! Including several novels I bought in Cleveland and my graphic novels!
While cleaning up the mess I also figured out that I was missing one of the novels I had bought and “DMZ vol 2.” When I called the number listed on the “your luggage has been searched notice” I was simply told that I could write a complaint letter. That’s it! It doesn’t matter that $40 worth of books were ruined or that I was missing a book and a graphic novel!
Yeah. I’m soooooooooooooooo not flying again ((plus… when I got to my car in the BWI parking lot it completely covered in bird crap!)).
First – I can’t stand BWI. Last year when we were coming home from there they took my lipstick, saying it was a “gel” even though the list specifically had lipstick as being OK. Of course it was my fault for leaving sunscreen in my purse or they probably wouldn’t have bothered me at all. But I was pretty irritated that they took the lipstick too.
Second – you really cannot be sassy, sarcastic, or anything like that at an airport. They don’t take kindly to it and the TSA has a lot more power now then they did before 9/11. I also think the keeping your bags with you and not taking a bag from someone you don’t know has been around for a long time as a general rule, and they play it over-and-over at every airport in America, there’s no way to not know about it. I would NEVER leave my luggage, especially a laptop, sitting out of my sight at an airport anyway. That’s just asking to have your crap stolen! Plus, if you haven’t been on a plane in a while they probably automatically flag you because that might seem suspicious.
But thirdly, for them to go all nuts based on DMZ, that’s just silly. There is all kinds of fiction, both graphic and non, that could fall under the umbrella of “terrorism.” They can’t frisk everyone who has that kind of stuff on them. Of course you did other stuff too, but still, you don’t fit the profile at all otherwise.
All-in-all the whole airport security thing really sucks now. When you see some 80 year old white guy getting pulled out of line to be frisked it just shows how stupid it is. I don’t mind flying, but the new rules, which seem to change every few months, are pretty nuts. You can’t even buy a bottled water and carry it with you onto the plane!
I was listening to a book on tape, prior to using the rest room. So I didn’t hear any of the secruity-rule announcements until after I had gotten in trouble the second time. And I didn’t have anything important in either of the bags I left outside the bathroom. One was my laptop-bag but in it was the graphic novels, some medicine, paper, notes, a screenplay.
I also take blame for most of everything I had to deal with, expect for them giving me the third degree over the comics. It was definitely a power-trip on their part and very frustrating because it felt like no matter what I said or how I said it they just got tougher/meaner.
Oh please. You were removed from line and search by airport security. You were given a questionairre that you answered in a smart ass way. And then you just happened to leave you bags unattended (but with a good excuse). US Airport security is ridiculous (as are most things about the US these days) but your story is just as ridiculous and dubious. The whole thing doesn’t read right and has the general flavour of lies. Claiming you were reading a book on tape to excuse the fact that you just didn’t hear the warnings is an obvious lie.
Castle,
You know the airlines let a man with TB hop all over the country right?
As the commenter above makes clear, OBVIOUSLY your story is a tissue of lies. You brought it upon yourself, with your fancy book-reading ways. Next time you have the privilege to fly, just take FHM and do NOT question authority.
I don’t think DMZ was a random thing, or an ‘ignorant about comics’ issue. I love the series, and notice that it is a thinly veiled attack at Haliburton and the Bush administration’s screwups with Iraq and New Orleans. It also humanizes suicide bombers. I would not be surprised if DMZ was on a list of ‘questionable’ materials that the feds use to profile potential terrorists. Something along the lines of McCarthy’s attack of people who read or listened to materials with a leftist or ‘communistic’ bent.
I wonder if I should burn my DMZ’s now before the Secret Police chuck me into Gitmo.
OMG, I cannot believe it. I live in the UK, and after reading your story (a) as a DMZ/general comic book fan and (b) as a muslim, I can safely say I will never, ever come to the U.S. for any sort of holiday. This is just ridiculous.
So, you just missed the constantly repeating loudspeaker message at BWI telling you to not leave your bags unattended?
U.S.A!!full control! where is Snake Plisken??Seriosly , in europe it would never happend and we had a lot more terrorist atack than USA , go vote in 2008! Becouse if you not , USA will be one big prison!
“I was listening to a book on tape, prior to using the rest room. So I didn’t hear any of the secruity-rule announcements until after I had gotten in trouble the second time.”
That’s bull, you can hear the announcement in the bathroom, when standing in line to check in, when walking down the hallway. It’s played everywhere.
I’m actually of two minds about this.
On the one hand, listening to anything at such a level that it completely blocks out other sounds is really phenomenally stupid (not to mention potentially hazardous to yur hearing) – I was going on a two-week vacation trip once and took cash out of the ATM at the train station while I was waiting for my train. Had I had my music turned up enough to block out ambient noise, I would not heard my name being paged from the Customer Service desk and I never would have realized until MUCH too late that I had dropped my bank card when juggling all my stuff at the ATM.
Also, leaving your stuff unattended in a public place is pretty much the same as putting “help yourself” signs all over it. Am I the only person in situations like you describe who hangs his duffle over the nearest toilet-stall door while taking care of business? Was there a countertop for the sinks? Were there paper towels if the countertop was wet? It DOES almost sound like you were LOOKING for some way that you could get more annoyed over your experience.
On the other hand, hassling you for leaving your bags unattended IN THE SECURED ZONE strikes me as an admission that they don’t really believe in the effectiveness of the job that they’re doing.
TSA: “Don’t you understand that someone could have placed a bomb in your bag while it was out of your sight?”
Passenger: “But wouldn’t that person have to have gotten the bomb PAST YOU on THAT side of the security gate in order to put it in my bag on THIS side of the gate…?”
TSA: (Reaches for the box of latex gloves…) “…You’ll find that it doesn’t pay to think too much, sir…!”
You were really looking for trouble, you know?
You forgot to mention the part where you just traveled forward in time from the year 2000 and haven’t had the ability to read a newspaper, visit a website, or watch a television show in six years.
i was flying internationally w/ my brother in law one time and he’s Iranian/Armenian and i’m latin but really really pale. even white people call me white….but i had a huge beard. not quite zztop or rick rubin, but definetely iron and wine level. anyways, i had a ham wrapped in foil in my bad which they said looked like a “bees nest”. that lead them to do a chemical test on my bad (which was from invisible records/underground inc).
apparently whatever face wash i had spill last time i traveled gives off the same detection as TNT. so they patted me down, pulled me aside and checked me….very thoroughly (i had to warn them they weren’t getting a tip no matter how much of my privacy they invaded).
in the end my brother in law was laughing his ass off b/c he had no troubles. when we got to the gate i asked him where his carry on was. apparently he’d been watching them molest me so intently that he put his bad down and forgot it. poor guy had to run all the way back just to have security picking up his bag. they didn’t give him any trouble but i’m always careful to trim my beard when i fly now.
the way back was interesting b/c i got accused by customs of being a homosexual with my father.
that was just creepy.
scott – you’ve been linked to on this on at least two internet sites already. People are all up in arms about DMZ! Maybe people will start reading the series now – just to be rebellious against the government.
After re reading this guys blog, that I linked to form another site, I have come to the some conclusions 1) that he doesn’t read or see any news becuase he would have known about all the levels of secruity you have to go through to get to your gate. That’s why they say to get there a couople of hours before your flight starts, 2) he does not listen to, or have common sense, the messages over the PA system that tell you not to let your bag leave your person or watch a strangers bag, 3) he has no idea that leaving your car in a parking lot is nice spot for birds to poop on. Being creatures that eat and digest food they have to expel their waste somehow and 3) this guy is a sensitive little girl.
If he had put his bags right outside the stall, that might be one thing, but he left it outside the bathroom all together! Which nmake his an even bigger douchebag!
Somefolk on the other website said he should hire a lawyer- for what? Because his little feelings were hurt. Please. When you are in a situation like the one this clown put himself in being a smartass is not the way to go.
What an asshat. And then the nimrod goes and posts hie “ordeal” on the internet so the entire world can know he’s a douchebag.
You want an ordeal- Fly from Tennessee to Japan. Now that is one hellasious flight..
OMG… quit being a whiney bitch. It seems that you were oblivious to anything going on around you, and then got your panties in a wad when you obviously stuck out. I also read DMZ, but one would have to admit that it might raise an eyebrow or two.
As far as those abroad who are criticizing our airport security:
1. ask yourself why there are more terrorist attacks in Europe than in the US.
2. if he had not been harmless then the liberal press here would have eaten them alive if something would have happened.
Hi-
What does a man’s relative ability or inability to pay attention to loudspeaker announcements, or desire or lack of desire to take his bags with him, have to do with the fact that he was questioned repeatedly over a COMIC BOOK and that his physical possessions were STOLEN and DAMAGED by security guards?
He may be dumb. The comic book may in fact be a TERRORIST COMIC BOOK.
That is not the point.
In this country, you nominally have BOTH the right to be dumb AND the right to read terrorist comic books.
well. i can see your getting mixed reviews over you ordeal.
simple fact? you deserved it.
i’m sorry, i’m an avid DMZ fan, so much that when i fly (which i do frequently) i usually have at least one of the trades on me. however have i ever been hassled for it? no
yet the one time you fly with your trades your given the special treatment.
it all comes down to the fact that every step of the way you did what you could to stand out to security there.
“take your shoes off sir” what was your response? “oh really? weird”
what is the point of that, in fact what was the point of all of your wiseass comments? sure your a free thinking individual living in a democracy. sure you should be able to read what you want, say what you want, yadda yadda yadda. that doesn’t change the fact that in an airport, the security guards have the authority to make your travel a living hell and routinely exercise that authority. while i dont want to stand up for them (as anyone who has had run-ins with airport authorities can attest) at the same time they have a stressful job and the issue of terrorism is very real. sure, to go ballistic over a trade of DMZ is just ignorant, but ignorance seems to be a national hobby in America and if you can’t deal with that then go live in a cave somewhere. which it seems as if you have done for the simple fact that you obviously have no clue about airport procedures. haven’t seen a newspaper, sitcom, comedy routine or anything in the last however many years?
basically this has nothing to do with the comics. the catalyst was you, being a smartass, TRYING to stand out. walking through the detectors is something every passenger has to do, and airport security screens ANYONE out of the ordinary, and with your comments you fit the bill. then, and this is the most ridiculous part, you “LEAVE YOUR BAGGAGES UNATTENDED” while going into the bathroom. are you really that clueless? so what if you “were listening to books on tape”. thats just common sense and common knowledge these days, in ANY situation.
so to make this rant about DMZ is ridiculous. rather it comes down to the fact that you singled yourself out for such shoddy treatment. and while the security guards ignorance about DMZ is obvious, you blatantly displayed your OWN ignorance and lack of common sense. and in this case my friend? you were in HIS house!
so deal with it!
Your experience is typical. TSA ‘agents’ are nothing but sociopathic bullies. I’m glad you stood up for yourself. I now drive most places because of these semi literate cretins.
As a SIDA badged employee at BWI, I can attest that the cops there are OK. This guy did enough stuff that he should have been detained a while longer. Did this MORON not watch the news on 9/11.