TSA: Idiotic, No Common Sense and a Jar of Jam

I got a call this morning from a friend at Dulles Airport. It seems she bought a 5 ounce jar of home-made preservatives at a local farmer's market on Saturday. It was a gift for her grandson. She intended to deliver it in person this afternoon.

Not to be. It was confiscated by the TSA at the security checkpoint. This was not gasoline, a knife, a shoe device, a gun, blackjack or lethal weapon. It was jam. It looked like jam, was in a clear jam jar with a nice label and it tasted like jam because it was jam. Horror of horrors,  5 full ounces of the deadly stuff known to TSA whose only harm could be to cause tooth decay and a purple tongue.  

My friend is a middle aged, friendly, patriotic and kind person. Your neighbor, perhaps. She is no threat. Chances of her doing anything even bordering on rash are less than zero. I do not think she could throw the jar into the next row.  She said she pleaded with the nice blue clad shirted TSA guy but even though he said ,yes, indeed it was stupid, he could not let the jam pass. Another victory for national security. Another sheep being lead to the slaughter. 

This is why people resent government. They spy on us, they target the tax police on us, they wire tap the press, they lie about brave men dying in the desert, and now show their potency and common sense that a jar of jam destined for an eleven year old boy brought to him by his grandmother is not allowed to arrive at its destination. Take that old women and frisk that baby next to you.

The TSA is suppose to make traveling safe. Big responsibility. However, I would have not felt in danger with the jam on board. 

How did things become so bad? So rigid, so lacking in common sense. How did we let this happen to us?