Oh, I didn't mention my trip in my post yesterday. I had no problems carrying things like my MP3 player and anything else. But on my way back, they selected me for overzealous searching.
Now I know exactly what Bruce Schneier was Saying when he wrote about how the new airport security measures are just security theater [schneier.com]. What I was subjected to was ridiculous.
When my shoes went through the X-ray scanner thingy, they detected something they didn't like, so they decided to swab it (for explosives?). Meanwhile, they told me to go wait over by a line of chairs. And since I had nothing better to do, I started taking crap (like my wallet, cell phone, etc) out of my carry-on so that I could put them back into my pockets.
After a while, they gave my shoes back to me, but said that they would have to pat me down. I submitted, but it was completely ridiculous, because I had huge bulging things in my pockets by that point. I mean, if I had anything on me that could have been found in a pat-down, I could have easily moved it in that time. It was ridiculous.
It was an inconvenience, and it was annoying. But most of all, it is a security failure every time they incorrectly select someone for extra screening just for something inconsequential. Think of how much time and effort is wasted.
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