Comment by wakawaka28
10 hours ago
A lighter is very different from a weapon. I'm sure they can see everything they need to see with X-rays. Do you think they find a white guy flying out of China to be a likely terrorist? (I'm assuming you are white or asian.)
I've never had a bad experience with TSA but I hate taking off my shoes and all. I really question the value of those security measures.
There are countries that for whatever reason do not allow lighters on airplanes.
One time my bag was searched furiously because they saw a lighter on the machine, but had trouble locating it. Took two people about 15 minutes. Finally found it. It was very tiny.
Can depend on the lighter. A $1 plain lighter is fine in some countries while a $3 pressurized “jet” lighter is often prohibited.
I haven't had any particularly bad experiences with the TSA either but I have been physically searched a few times. The entire process is definitely slower and more involved. The contrast of that coupled with the published failure statistics just leaves me wondering. I'd rather we got rid of them but if we must keep them I think we could do at least a bit better.
Almost every time I've had a secondary search I've thought "Yeah, I can see how that looks suspicious on x-ray". A large block of cheese as one example.
My two favorite pull-asides were for a three inch toy cannon my son brought back from a civil war site and my 18 inch plastic roller I carried to the Boston Marathon. I was allowed to proceed with both but the roller required a supervisor's approval and the cannon actually had to go up two levels.
You don’t have to take your shoes off anymore!
> Do you think they find a white guy flying out of China to be a likely terrorist?
What does skin color have to do with this? And yes, oppressed groups in China, like the Uyghurs, have support in the west. Among white people.
Maybe the winning strategy is comprehensive mass surveillance which flags you in a database long before even showing up at the airport and then the security theater just provides a suitable pretense for an arrest.
> What does skin color have to do with this?
It affects their perception of how risky you are, obviously. Accurate or not.
In fact, security tech in China will openly classify you by race/ethnicity.
Of course according to the US government terrorists are now white US citizens, so you could say they have become more open-minded.
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The same Uyghurs in the US would be judged by theie religion und be tracked down by ICE