Well, someone’s gotta keep the airport security people on their toes! (HT to lirelou)
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Dead Snakes on a Plane
This entry was written by Robert Koehler, posted on September 10, 2007 at 3:29 pm, filed under Asides, Korean Tabloid Crap. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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13 Comments
haha. Korean air security is so lax. I actually packed 12 bottles of soju on my carry on from Incheon to Chicago. Of course on my connecting flight I had to check it in, but anyone could light alcohol on fire for instance.
Only if you carry distillation equipment with you.
Soju doesn’t contain enough alcohol to be flammable.
That airport in Atlanta is one that I fly into at least once a year. It is such a mess that they require one to pick up their bags off of the plane and walk them down to another place, where they search their baggage again. Last time, it took me over two hours to get out of that airport and they misdirected my luggage after their double search as well! I almost missed my shuttlebus because of that too. It is so bad there that they took all the clocks out of the baggage claim area except for one place at the eatery.
I really hate Hartsfield-Jackson but at least they did not shoot me.
The poisonous snake in the soju is an expensive favorite of some Koreans. Years ago had to drive down from the mountains with these snakes in bottles that ended up in our fish traps. Am deathly afraid of snakes and didn’t like the idea of live snakes in the trunk — even if they were in bottles. They ended up as pickled snakes in soju for Pops. The snakes are supposed to turn the soju into a sexual “stamina” drink…or so they say.
“Soju doesn’t contain enough alcohol to be flammable.”
If it had, the caramelized sugar would make it as dangerous as napalm.
#3 “That airport in Atlanta is …such a mess that they require one to pick up their bags off of the plane and walk them down to another place, where they search their baggage again….”
Uh…wouldn’t this be because of that standard practice known as a “US customs” inspection? I’ve heard these were standard procedure for international arrivals at US airports even before 9-11.
You guys resident in Korea, with occasion to travel back to US territory — tell me, aren’t customs searches of one’s bags standard for all arriving travelers who originated in ROK? At least I hope it is, given this type of bizarre idiocy.
Also, those who haven’t been there should know that even arriving travlers from elsewhere in the US when reclaiming their baggage at Hartsfield will have to queue up to show the security folks (prb airport police, not TSA) their claim checks when leaving the baggage claim area. But they won’t have their bags x-rayed and/or searched again (that would have been done at the departure location).
Because ot the activity of thieves who grab other people’s bags and take off with them. At least, that’s the way it was around 1998 when I last went through there.
US Customs is now part of the Homeland Security Department along with the TSA. I reckon that’s why the linked story said nothing about it being a customs inspection that must have caught the bottled snakes, though until reading the link I would have thought that even a minimally competent AP reporter and/or editor would have mentioned this fact.
Oh, liquored snake is common. See this, http://www.flickr.com/search/?.....amp;m=text
Paul,
For international travelers with Atlanta as their last stop, it’s more of a pain that it needs to be:
1) immigration
2) baggage claim
3) customs
4) re-check your bags
5) security check (shoes off, etc.,.)
6) take the train
7) baggage claim (2nd time)
Steps 4 through 7 are totally unnecessary in nearly every other international airport. They are only necessary in Atlanta simply because the international concourse does not have a direct exit to the curb. Rather, you have to go through all of the rest of the public part of the airport to get to an exit. They also don’t want you to have your bags with you when you do, probably because it would make the security check that much more difficult.
Horrible design. However, I believe that will be remedied very soon. Atlanta is either building or will soon build a real international concourse with an exit by the curb.
Ok, got it. Thanks for the correction.
Me, leaving the US at SFO, with an idiotic TSA lady.
TSA: Sir, you have a computer in your bag?
Me: Indeed.
TSA: Why didn’t you take it out of your bag?
Me: Because I wasn’t told to, and there’s no sign that says I have to…
TSA: But it is obvious! Everybody knows that!
Me: Explain the “remove shoes” sign then.
TSA: …
Thanks for providing the explanation Miguk, the only good thing about Hartsfield was that the local people were very nice, especially since they saw my level of vexation.
#6,
I wouldn’t know. I’ve been boycotting American airports for the last 5 years.
You figure they’re unsafe after 9-11? Well, I can’t blame you for looking out for number one; besides the Americans they got, the 19 hijackers sure took a lot of third-country nationals with them.
Have that T-shirt guy fix you up one that says “I am not an American” in Arabic script (to go with your Korean one). It just might save your life someday.