Continental's self check-in line looked like a tightly coiled snake. Near its head, travelers squatted over bags, zipping and unzipping suitcases, shuttling toiletries, cosmetic bags and shaving kits from a small bag to a must-check suitcase or duffel.
The frenzy began to make sense when uniformed airline agents began posting "HOMELAND SECURITY" advisories banning all liquids and substances of "gel-like consistency" from the cabin.
From my backpack, I moved my deodorant, hand sanitizer, Listerine and a bottle of Estee Lauder's Beautiful perfume into the large red rolling Samsonite I planned to check.
Apparently my eau de toilette could not be on the jet.
"What's this all about?" some people wondered aloud. There were plenty of sighs.
Going though the check-in motions on the touch screen was fairly routine. It just took longer to get to that point because a family of four had made the check-in path like an obstacle course as they scattered items newly banned from the plane cabin.
Gatorade here. Water there. Revlon lipstick on the left. Baby bottle on the right.
With boarding pass and ID in hand, I walked to the security checkpoint to find about 500 people inching forward. An airport security worker wearing blue latex gloves and "TSA" on the back of her vest, paced the hallway yelling, "No liquids! No gels! No water, coffee, shampoo, shaving cream. Anything that's a liquid or looks like a gel must be in your checked baggage."
A businessman, traveling with only a computer bag and a rolling carry-on said, "I don't have anything to check in. What do I do with my shaving kit?"
Another TSA worker shouted, "Toss it," extending a wastebasket his way. He chucked a small can of Barbasol, a bottle of Old Spice into the trash.
Nearby a woman, about 40, exclaimed, "This is one-hundred dollar perfume. I'm not going to throw it away!"
You've got to know that airport janitors and TSA agents will be livin' large and smellin' good...at least until they use up all the stuff they got yesterday.
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