“What kind of pie is that?” the TSA agent demanded

Pie lady and all,

You’ll thank the screener once a pie actually explodes and kills people. Blame the stupid terrorists for all this necessary and enhanced security. Yes, I DO feel safer (no sarcasm really). Debate about it all you want but the fact is NOTHING BAD YET HAS HAPPENED probably because of screenings like these. Everyone says it’s a waste of money UNTIL SOMETHING ACTUALLY HAPPENS. Then people bitch and say why didn’t we start screening for pies (shoes, box cutters, etc.) before????

You should be thankful your pie got through intact. They could have REALLY checked it out and ruined it so stop complaining. Give the guys a break as they are doing their JOB. You wouldn’t expect anything less from an employee. REMEMBER, it just takes one little slipup or oversight for a pie bomb to get through. That one pumpkin pie COULD have been the plastic explosive.

TSA should be equipped with electronic handheld “sniffers” that can detect plastic explosives. that way they can quickly scan pies for example rather than give people the 3rd degree on the contents.
Let’s face it, the GOP doesn’t want better airport security, they are more than happy to make the TSA look bad so they can eliminate it and allow terrorists to roam freely. Its all about money, safety is a minor concern to them compared to profiteering.

Umm….

re: “Debate about it all you want but the fact is NOTHING BAD YET HAS HAPPENED probably because of screenings like these.”

Nothing bad has happened because nothing else needs to happen. They won. You’re afraid.

There are a million easier ways to cause terror than blowing up airplanes. What about blowing up the security check points? That would cause just about as much chaos as blowing up a plane. Why hasn’t that happened?

Simple. They won because you’re afraid. You’ve been successfully terrorized.

Which is especially sad because, ultimately, you did it to yourself. Good job.

I would hate to fly with explosive intestinal or bowel distress.

Russ mentioned the ion scanner- it could be used however, each item takes longer to test, than a whole bag can be checked on the x-ray. Does it really make sense to allow liquids through, perhaps we could have a line for conformists

They that would give up essential liberty for a little safety deserve neither.

Heil Bush–the Traitor-in-Chief!

My theory about why US employment figures look so rosy is that the only three areas of job growth are baristas, WalMart greets and TSA screeners. In answer to “Oh Lord, What next?,” I think someday we’ll all have to go thru security screening naked — and of course, not carrying an edibles that “might” have the consistancy of explosives.

you prob would have said exploding shoes was ridiculous and stupid until it happened. I don’t blame the tsa, its just a sad world we live in when we have to take precautions because theres so many people that want to blow themselves up and everyone else with them

It is funny because PDX was selected the best customer service oriented airport.

http://www.screenersconfessions.com

Reminds me of the VERY LARGE Kitchenaid oven service technician (AKA repairman) who told me he needed me to bake a cake for him so that he could diagnose the problem.

Jasper is my man!
I had been thinking about solving quite a few world problems with big hot bombs. Not only Mecca and Medina, but also Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Zimbabwe……. Here I thought I was the only one in the country with the brains to figure it out. Too bad the guys in power stay that way by keeping so many folks all stirred up and fighting each other. Good for the oil, munitions, aircraft, tank, and contractor businesses…..bad for civilization…

NATE-SMACKER:

Yes you do have the airport gestapo in Canada, at vancouver. I mentioned that to the SS man and boy did I get worked over, every little thing in my carry on was searched as was I.

I have a crayon box I keep my drugs in, inside my carry on, he could not get it open. He was not to happy when I informed him it was a kindergardners crayon box and guess the kids are smarted than he is as they can open it.

One point seems to have been missed here.
Does nobody find it odd that, having confiscated a pie from a passenger in case it is a bomb, they still let that “disarmed” passenger onto the plane.
If a passenger is so skilled and full of evil intention that she planned to use a pie as a deadly weapon, you’d think they would throw her in jail.
If she had walked up with an Uzi and had it confiscated, they wouldn’t let her continue her journey – especially when on the plane she might find “proper” weapons like cutlery or the ultimate WMD … airline food!

I have carried my mini Swiss Army Knife on my key ring for 20 consecutive flights and it has never been caught by the TSA screeners.

True, the semi-sharp blade is only about 2″ long, but the knife is still a no-no.

All of you people crying for the removal of the Bush Administration over the simple topic of the TSA need to pull your heads out of somewhere. The comment to “de-classify/invent stuff that can find weapons in seconds” makes me chuckle, too. Its just that easy, kids! Just invent it!

Being military, I can completely understand and appreciate the TSA’s current position. On a daily basis, they need to be checking thousands of bags in a given day for POTENTIAL explosives/weapons. Previous comments have said the same – think outside the box, people. What do you think a terrorist is going to do, show up with a cardboard box, wires sticking out with a loud, obnoxious ticking noise and try to pass that through security? No, they are going to attempt to hide it in the best way possible.

Welcome to 2008. Its now 6.5 years since 9/11, and its a new world. Terrorist activity is on the rise, and they are becoming smarter in their ways. The TSA has to constantly adapt and change their own ways, also, in an attempt to counter that threat as best as possible. Its like a car alarm people. Its not GUARANTEED to work, but it damn sure is a deterrent.

Maybe being military gives me a completely different viewpoint of the world, and the concept and definition of “security”. People who grow up all spoiled having everything handed to them on a silver plater and scoff at the mere thought of taking their shoes off or god forbid, having to stick their hands out to the side to be “wanded” need a reality check. They’re also, generally, the people who are most misinformed about the job that the TSA has to perform on a daily basis, and probably shouldn’t be commenting here at all. Its sad that people who aren’t smart enough to simply leave their food at home, have to take out their frustrations on people trying to keep them safe.

It’s usually whiners like you (most of you) that I have the misfortune of sitting next to on a plane. The system isn’t perfect, no system is. I would rather be inconvienced a bit (not that I feel I’m owed anything unlike you special people) than to be killed. You’re the same people I’m behind at the supermarket, being held up beacuse you’re cussing out the 16 year old girl because the register rang up your 4 oz. tube of toothpaste for and extra 10 cents. Get over yourselves, or don’t fly, better yet don’t drive either, because I’m sure you’re the ones riding my a## flashing your headlights behind me when I’m alreading speeding by 5 mph. If you’re so damn important, buy your own plane, that way you won’t have to wait for me to take my laptop out of my bag at security. Nothing in life is free folks, including peace, liberty, and also….yes a defense against those who want to kill us. There are many things that us law-abiding Americans do at the requirement of our government, like paying taxes, registerring our cars, paying tolls, and yes going through airport security. GROW UP. Most of you disgust me!

The whole point of terrorism is to terrorize a population.

I submit that a country that has set up a separate agency that frisks old ladies and inspects their pies has achieved that goal for the terrorists.

I’m not against screening per-se, but there are a few things that are apparent:

1) The TSA continues to overreact to miniscule threats. The liquids ban is a good example – some terrorists had an *idea* that they would blow up a plane with liquids, but no credible plan. And frankly, liquids are too much hassle if you’re interested in explosives. You can do some bad things with liquids, but you can do them with 3oz of liquids as well.

So, basically, the liquid regulation only inconveniences everybody with no increase in security.

2) This focus on passenger screening is silly. Airports are very soft targets by their very nature – they’re very big and have a lot of employees working at them, and lots of trucks going in and out. Inventive terrorists would have no problem getting through airport security – they just wouldn’t do it through the screening line.

3) TSA has no meaningful quality control program whatsoever. There are countless incidents of TSA agents going outside the regulations. Just last weekend an agent opened a sterile medical device, because they “had to”.

4) The TSA does an inadequate job of screening applicants and training them. They treat passengers like cattle. There are clearly some employees who are there for the power trip.

If you haven’t read TSA’s blog – and I’ll give them credit for having a blog – go and take a read.

reminds me of any other govt. agency – run completely inefficiently. i try not to fly at all. i take rideshares (from craigslist where you can find people to drive from one coast or to another state and split the cost) or the bus. and aircraft travel is not “cheap” as one guy posted above.

rail is another nicer option.

I had a similar experience, although not with a pie. It was a container of cheese spread.

I am from Wisconsin and was visiting family; my mom knows I can’t get the ‘good stuff’ where I live, so she bought a container of cheese spread for me and gave it to me as I was leaving the house. I’ve traveled with this stuff – with no trouble – for years. Had i suspected there would have been a problem, I would have put it in my checked luggage. The airport had NO notification ANYWHERE that cheese of any sort was a security threat. Yet, they confiscated my cheese – an unopened, factory sealed, still cold from the fridge container of cheese. I complained as loud as i could – being that i had no voice from a cold and was standing in the airport barefoot at 5am.

The ‘understanding’ agent told me I should mail it to myself (yes, there’s a post office in the airport that is open at 5am on a Sunday, right?), or perhaps I could leave it in my car (which was in New Orleans), or perhaps I should put it in my checked baggage (I’m certain the ticket counter would have been thrilled and most cooperative to go find my luggage so I could check my cheese). I don’t like being mocked. I will gladly follow the rules if I know what they are. I was FURIOUS – especially since, due to delays, it took us nearly 14 hours to get home (usually a 3 hour flight) and we could have very easily consumed the terrorist cheese while we waiting in airports as we were unapologetically shuffled across the country.

I realize they have a job to do and it can be very difficult. However, sometimes a little common sense has to come into play. When you are an airport located in a place where people are known to purchase and fly with the local delicacies, POST IT ON A VISIBLE, OBNOXIOUS SIGN so scenes like these can be avoided.

Holidays are coming up again, if you don’t want people to fly with cakes, cookies, pies and anything else that they can eat – tell them to take the train because it’s a more pleasant experience. Oh, and since the airlines probably won’t advocate that, perhaps they could warn people. In advance. Starting now.

The really sad thing is listening to all the people on here blasting the TSA for safety. The united states has not been attacked since 9/11 specifically because of safe gaurds put in place since then. Pie’s may sound rediculous but then many thought trying to blow up a plane with your shoe was too. Or how about the ones in britain who were going to mix the chemicals from shampoo bottles? Sounds pretty stupid until someone does it. Unfortunatley americans will only understand these things when bombings of shopping malls and public transit become weekly occurrences like many european and middle east countries. Then they will wonder what happen to the good days. I always feel for the TSA employees when I travel (over 200,000 miles a year) since it is a long and thankless shift in a dismal place. But then I guess we only seem to think of ourselves.

I cannot believe there are actually IDIOTS that have posted, taking the lady to task for bringing on a pie. What utter BS! Plastic explosives do NOT have the consistency of pumpkin pies. While I was turned away for a tiny folding knife that was about an inch long – the lady in front of me was allowed to waltz through with KNITTING NEEDLES!

Face it – the TSA is just a bunch of idiots, run by idiots, staffed by idiots, and only idiots would stick up for the insanity that goes on. If you ninnies are SO scared of exploding pies – I suggest you stay home and cower under the bed, you spineless wimps!

Some pie fillings DO have the general consisteny of C4, centrex and other plastic explosives. By consistency I mean VISUAL consistency. Obviously the tsa cannot stick a finger in your pie and feel the consistency, instead it goes by what the x-ray shows visually. If 12 pies were all passed by you and some had explosives in it, and all you could do was visually see the top of the pie, you simply could not tell. Trust me the people who want to kill you will use a pie if they thought they could get away with it.

When one rule doesn’t make any sense, sometimes its a balancing act. You need to balance peoples time and the TSA time and energy it takes. For example I do think knitting needles are more dangerous than a 2′ blade. So, the rule has to be all blades, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair if someone was allowed to take through a 2.5″ blade but not a 3″. Or a 4″ was allowed but not someones 5″. It makes much more sense to ban all blades. Same with shoes. Imaagine in any given airport the metal detector operator allowed a 2 year olds shoes to go through but not the 18 month child a moment later. Imagine the uproar if a little 12 month old boys shoes were “ok” but not the 10 month old girls!! Lets not even bring race into it, that would be a disaster. Instead it makes sense to just say “all shoes go through the x-ray” (Then of course some dumb-ass makes a wise comment like “wow, is my 2 year olds flip flops really going to do damage”).

Here’s a thought… if your even remotely unsure about what can go on your carry-on, then just check the bag under the plane. Most people don’t want to take those extra few minutes, but would rather wail and cry about unfair treatment instead. Do us all a favor… travel light and check your luggage.
Do you really need a freakin pumpik pie on your lap during a short flight? Do you really need that 60 thousand oz bottle of water? Will you suddenly dry up and die of thirst? Hey people…. here’s a little known tidbit… the airlines can serve you a drink, either free or for a buck or two.

Regarding… What about a baby diaper? How many pounds of explosives could you cram into a #4 baby diaper. Idiots!
Answer: you cannot start taking babies diapers off them, and the tsa never would, its too intrusive, UNLESS some horrible sick person tried using a diaper for explosives, then be sure diapers would be checked. Until that time its a balancing of whats likely with whats too intrusive.

Regarding: “Any bomb that a passenger could sneak aboard is too small to have a major effect except in a movie script”.
Answer: Not true. When placed in a number of specific places, a very small explosion, at 40,000 feet could be catastrophic.

Ease up on the TSA and focus your rage on the people who made it all happen, and who are working dilligently every day on making it happen again.

It’s frustrating to see the vast assortment of ignorant people commenting on this post. The simple fact is that unless you are an explosives expert, you don’t have a clue how much explosives it takes to bring down an airplane, or what consistency of a substance may or may not match explosives. Here’s the truth, straight from an explosives expert (me):

1. There are plenty of explosives with similar consistency to pumpkin pie filling. They are called emulsions, and are widely used by the commercial blasting industry. They come in limitless colors, so they could easily be made to have a visual similarity to pie filling as well.

2. Regarding liquid explosives:
“The TSA continues to overreact to miniscule threats. The liquids ban is a good example – some terrorists had an *idea* that they would blow up a plane with liquids, but no credible plan.”

Really? Look up Korean Air Flight 858. Picatinny Liquid Explosives brought down that flight. How about Philippine Airlines Flight 434? A Nitroglycerin explosive device detonated on that plane, and killed a Japanese businessman. How about Op Overt in 2006, featuring binary liquid explosives made from common household items? Thankfully, that one was stopped before it happened. And the list goes on…

3. To Ms. Cheese Whiz… they DO put big obnoxious signs up all over the place, advertising the ban on Liquids, Aerosols, and Gels. Your cheese spread falls under the category of a gel, defined as “a semi-rigid colloidal dispersion of a solid within a liquid or gas”. A gel doesn’t just mean anything that looks like Jell-O or hair products. If you need some examples, look up NMX foam explosive (looks like shaving cream), Gelamex (looks like cake frosting), or any of the many commercial emulsions or slurries.

4. For all the posts advocating things like explosive sniffers and inventing better technology… we already have them. The problem is, we can’t use them to the full extent of their capabilities because the same ignorant types that don’t know how the TSA works are usually the ones who whine about having their privacy invaded by this technology. So, for example, we have to turn down the resolution on the whole-body imagers, lest they actually reveal the outline of a human body. This makes clearing threats much more difficult for the officers. Maybe when you people make up your minds whether you prefer security or privacy, this issue will be settled.

5. Last, but not least, have enough sense to stop blaming the TSA for problems created by the airport, the airlines, or your own idiocy. We do not work for them, nor do they work for us. We work for the Dept. of Homeland Security. So, your 3-hour flight delay is not our fault. Your baggage getting lost is not our fault (blame the loaders, which are airline employees). Your inability to understand basic chemistry (i.e. what constitutes a liquid, aerosol, or gel) is not our fault. You want shorter wait times at the checkpoint? Stop cramming a suitcase-load of crap into a carry-on bag. Don’t bring your carry-on, backpack, laptop case, purse, and make-up box to the checkpoint all at the same time and wonder why it takes so long to screen it all. Take your freaking shoes off without complaining (and look up Richard Reid in your spare time); that means flip-flops, too. Stop trying to smuggle your water bottles, pocket knives, asps, kubatons, and other prohibited items through the checkpoint. The officers will find them, you’ll get a ticket or arrested, and you’ll look like an idiot.

Feel free to ask questions, and I’ll answer them honestly, even if it makes me look bad. Cheers!

Ditto on that Jack. Now a rent-a-cop is an explosive “expert” because he knows how to use google to search for some possible ways to defend the pie policeman’s action.
TSA is a joke. Every frequent traveler knows it.Shoes only on belts in one city, only in bins on others.
It isn’t that we don’t need a security agency, but that it’s run by our government. And like every “business” they run, it’s without clear direction.

@ Jim Hall: Haha, I had a good laugh from your post! “Rent-a-cop”, eh? Yeah, I suppose we should ignore my military service, especially the time I spent in Iraq disarming roadside IEDs and blowing up weapons and explosive caches. Oh, and while we’re at it, let’s ignore my college degree, too! Yay, now I’m a rent-a-cop!

Seriously, though, if I am a “typical TSA dude”, as Jack Bauer put it, then you are a typical ignorant citizen. What happened when we had private companies running our checkpoints? You may remember a little event called 9/11. As for the shoe example, perhaps you should do a little research. Did it ever occur to you that maybe some airports use different equipment than others? Or that different regions in the U.S. actually respond to localized/regionalized threats which might cause them to increase or decrease certain security measures? No, you never thought about that because you don’t have to. It’s not your job. Plus, it’s much easier and more fun to throw insults at a system or agency which you know nothing about.