TSA Has Sticky Fingers
Well, I guess this is what happens when you don’t adequately screen candidates.
Of course, most of what the TSA does is make us feel safer, not anything that really makes us safer. Still, I think we should draw the line at TSA employees ransacking our luggage for electronics. And, no, before you ask, I didn’t lose anything this last trip to San Francisco. In part, because I brought every bit of camera gear on the plane with me in a carry-on bag. Might have been a good thing, considering the fact that the TSA did go into my checked bag to, uh, check my underwear or something. After all, my boxer-briefs are quite possibly a threat to national security. No, really, they must be.
Seriously, this is a huge problem and it has been for ages. Photographers all know that you should never, ever check your camera gear through Baltimore, among other places. Frankly, I have too much personal “disposable” income invested in my camera gear to check it through anywhere. I’ve heard too many stories about things going missing from bags. In fact, when I got into Houston and collected my bag, I was making small talk with a fellow passenger who was apparently shocked to discover that TSA baggage inspectors had been caught taking things out of people’s luggage. Though, he had to admit that he had noticed some things had gone missing from his bag while traveling. He figured, however, that they were just so over-worked that they’d forgotten to put it back in the bag. Yeah, that’s actually what he told me. Maybe it’s just me, but, well, I just don’t trust the average government employee.
I used a ThinkTank Airport Ultralight v2.5 to get all my photography gear into an overhead bin. I ended up not using everything I brought, but I was glad to have it, just because I might have wanted it. So, it was worth the investment. I’ll probably get around to a review later.
Anyway, if you’re traveling, watch your bags and what goes into them.
Seriously.
