I find it interesting to contrast this with my experience flying out of China. I was taken to a private room and shown the digital colored X-ray of my bag on which a box had been drawn around an empty lighter, I was asked to remove it myself and hand it over, and I went on my way. All in under 5 minutes, no pat down, no fuss, and no one physically rifled through my belongings. (Granted I was a tourist so that might well not be typical.)

I'm not sure what their success rate is when tested by professionals but the experience definitely left me wondering WTF the deal with the TSA is.

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2muchcoffeeman an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Once at a security checkpoint to a museum in Shanghai, they saw my water bottle, and then told me to take it out and drink from it.

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SapporoChris 37 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

In the 90's USA was sensible. I was flying with a thermos of hot coffee in my carry on. As soon as they took out the thermos and felt the heat radiating from the lid the agent said, "I don't think they would heat it", smiled and passed me thru.

Now when I fly I have to be careful. When they ask purpose of visit I say sightseeing. I used to say tourist, but with my accent that once caused alarm when the agent thought I said terrorist.

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imcritic 44 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Was it just you? Or do they apply the same policy for every visitor with a bottle of liquid?

	▲	qingdao99 14 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		This is/was fairly common, I've experienced it on the Chinese subway a few times and I've seen a few clips of it happening online. No idea if it's official policy or not, though.
	▲	fc417fc802 30 minutes ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Just a guess but at a museum I assume they're looking out for vandals. If it's a water bottle the counterpart would be something like concentrated sodium hydroxide in which case a single sip is sufficient. Not sure how they would handle dye in a paper coffee cup though.
	▲	2muchcoffeeman 17 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I saw them do this to a few others in line.

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James_K 14 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

So if a suicide bomber can drink explosives, they will be fine. As long as it's not poisonous within a few hours, should be no issue.

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anal_reactor 36 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There was this guy at the Mexican border who was asked to do the same. He died from heroin overdose.

I still think it's funny.

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tasuki an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

That is the way!

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Cthulhu_ an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I flew into the UK once with a small nerf pistol. Going in, no problem. Going out I was asked to remove it, lol.

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wakawaka28 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

A lighter is very different from a weapon. I'm sure they can see everything they need to see with X-rays. Do you think they find a white guy flying out of China to be a likely terrorist? (I'm assuming you are white or asian.)

I've never had a bad experience with TSA but I hate taking off my shoes and all. I really question the value of those security measures.

	▲	teiferer an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> Do you think they find a white guy flying out of China to be a likely terrorist? What does skin color have to do with this? And yes, oppressed groups in China, like the Uigurs, have support in the west. Among white people. Maybe the winning strategy is comprehensive mass surveillance which flags you in a database long before even showing up at the airport and then the security theater just provides a suitable pretense for an arrest.
	▲	fc417fc802 an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I haven't had any particularly bad experiences with the TSA either but I have been physically searched a few times. The entire process is definitely slower and more involved. The contrast of that coupled with the published failure statistics just leaves me wondering. I'd rather we got rid of them but if we must keep them I think we could do at least a bit better.