To the list of instructions you hear at airport checkpoints, add this: "Put your palms forward, please."That's how I ended up being scrutinized by the TSA in Dallas one time. I had earlier that morning attended church and had walked across some newly fertilized grass. While changing shoes later I got some of the nitrates in the fertilizer on my hands and apparently transferred them to my briefcase. The TSA asked to swab my briefcase, and why not? I didn't care.
The Transportation Security Administration soon will begin randomly swabbing passengers' hands at checkpoints and airport gates to test them for traces of explosives.
Previously, screeners swabbed some carry-on luggage and other objects as they searched for the needle in the security haystack -- components of terrorist bombs in an endless stream of luggage.
Well, the alarms went off and for the next 20 minutes or so I was pretty much treated like a suspect while they investigated my briefcase and questioned me on my business dealings in Dallas (I was there to mix an album and my briefcase had various stuff I needed for the project). They finally let me go.
Needless to say, be careful what you handle before you head to the airport. Anything that might have nitrates in it could set off their alarms should they swab your palms, and that could create a lot more excitement than you planned for during your trip to the airport.
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1 comment:
I have flown the day after going to the shooting range and been swabbed ... and, like you, spent an extra 20 minutes getting groped and grabbed and questioned. In this case I'm understanding, though, as obviously I was around explosives.
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