Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarana
My Aunt just came from Central America a few weeks ago. Most airports have plenty of places to charge electronic devices. They have been asking random passengers to start up their devices before 9/11, so nothing new to her.
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Well before 9/11, I frequently traveled by air domestically and among the NAFTA countries, Europe, and the Caribbean. For most short-duration trips, I packed lightly and used carry-ons exclusively. And most of the airports I frequented were major international hubs.
Though I traversed numerous airports, security at only one routinely pulled me aside, required me to empty my bags so their contents could be inspected, and had me turn on devices:
Atlanta Hartsfield (ATL). In fact, ATL's security repeated that routine EVERY TIME I flew out of there (often multiple times per week, since one of my primary, year-long management consulting projects was based there, but other clients, the rest of my team, and significant people and R&R spots in my personal life were scattered worldwide).
I frequently asked (politely and genuinely curiously) why I was stopped each time. The usual answer: that information is classified. However, once, one security agent spilled the beans (though I don't think he was supposed to): my carry-ons included numerous corded items, which raised red flags.
(These were my corded items: two curling irons - each with a different barrel diameter, one blow dryer, one laptop with cord, one cellphone charger, and one supplementary battery pack.)
Since I came to expect the grande search, I learned to budget extra time to accommodate it. I appreciate and don't mind cooperating with airport security efforts, but my experience in ATL always begged the question: why didn't the red flags for ATL security trigger the same reaction at other airports?