Comments on: Has anyone ever said “yes” to airline security questons like these?

By: Brooke Oberwetter

Brooke Oberwetter — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:13:06 +0000

I've always wanted to go with the too-much-information approach when asked if my bags have been in my possession since I packed them:

"Well, my suitcase was by the front door while I was waiting in the kitchen for my cab. And then cab driver picked it up to put it in the trunk of the cab, but I was watching him pretty closely. But then when the suitcase was in the trunk, I couldn't see it and I can't really prove that somebody didn't tamper with it while it was back there. Then the sky-cap dude took it out of the cab while I was busy paying the cab driver, and I wasn't really paying attention, so it definitely wasn't in my possession for about 19 seconds. Shall we unpack it right here and have a looksee?"

By: Brooke

Brooke — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:13:06 +0000

By: cordblomquist

cordblomquist — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:46:41 +0000

No compressed gas jokes yet?

By: BD

BD — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:27:50 +0000

I like the philosophical question I got once: "Has your bag been handled by another person without your knowledge?"

It's practically Zen going through security sometimes

/b

By: quixotic

quixotic — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:18:23 +0000

I think that these questions are a product of a society that has buried common sense in legal technicalities. E.g., you have asserted “no”, so if we catch you, you cannot say “I didn't know” and “no one asked”.

By: Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:28:33 +0000

Last time I returned to America, the dude asked if I had $10,000 in cash and I said “I wish.” They didn't lock me up. But the British passport lady didn't seem very amused when I asked her “what ho?”

By: Phoronus

Phoronus — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:49:04 +0000

Once, in response to the explosives/flammables question, I said (without thinking) “I sure hope not.” The check-in lady didn't think that was funny.