TSA

The time has come. You booked your vacation. Perhaps to somewhere tropical. Somewhere you can relax and let all the worries drift away. Maybe you chose to leave the kids at home...

Or perhaps you are heading out on an important business trip. You will only be gone a short while, but you are dressed in your best suit and are carrying all sorts of technology with you for that important meeting or trade show...

And then it happens. It is time to go through airport security.

It's impossible to know what TSA is going to ask you to do.

You pile your carry on bags onto the moving belt. But wait, don't forget to take out your quart-sized see through plastic bag that contains all of your liquid items. Hopefully you remembered that your containers cannot be larger than 3.4 ounces each or security will confiscate them or give you the option to go check your bag.

In almost every airport you have to take your shoes off, but not necesarily so if you are under a certian age. Some airports insist that shoes never go into bins when going through the X-ray.

If you are bringing your laptop along or any other larger electronic device, don't forget to take them out of your bag and put them in their own bin with nothing below or above them. This will save you precious time in securtiy lanes.

Do you have to take your belt off? What about the jewelry you are wearing? All depends on what they are made of and how much metal is in them.

Can I put my ID and boarding pass away, or do I have to carry it through the scanner/metal detector?

Most U.S. airports have installed the full body scanners. Even if you go to a lane that is just for the old standard metal detectors you still have a chance of being pulled into the full body scanner lane. If this happens you have the option of getting a pat down instead of going through the scanner. It might take a little longer, but this blogger always opts for the pat down instead of the scan. Just a personal preference.

All of these are pretty standard at the TSA lines these days, but you never know what is in store. Sometimes we get annoyed and think or comment out loud, why can't it be the same. Maybe you depart on your trip from JFK and when you fly back from Jamaica it's totally different. Or when you are leaving PHX and flying to SFO for your meeting the TSA ask you to do something different. My favorite is seeing frequent travelers who comment that when they flew through the same airport the week before they didn't have to do this or that while at security.

So why are there always different rules when going through TSA lines while at airports? Because TSA wants to keep you on your toes. The different rules are to keep you safe. If you knew exactly what was needed to get through security with out any shake ups in the system, then so would the terrorists. Isn't it worth random security measures to ensure that we all fly safely and reach our destination? This blogger says yes.

Opinions?