My bottle of ‘bomb infused’ spring water was just confiscated by the flight attendant on my flight from Newark to Chicago. I know, nowadays just uttering (or typing?) the word ‘bomb’ is a no-no, but I’m just reporting the news here, right?
As you may know just one week ago, the British authorities foiled a plot by terrorists to carry bombs on several planes in London. These bombs were a cocktail mix of a sports drink and ‘bomb juice’ (made that up). So, the result of this is the current ban of ALL liquids on all domestic and international flights. This includes your everyday lip balm, shampoo, toothpaste…and, yes, one of today’s most common accessories—the Starbucks cup or bottle of ‘fancy’ water scooped out of some stream in the Maine wilderness (or maybe just some guys toilet).
So, about an hour into our flight, 30,000 or so feet above the earth, I was reprimanded. I told the nice male flight attendant I had bought it after I passed through security (yes, this was a lie), but apparently no liquids are allowed onboard period. Actually, I was well aware of my carry-on hydration secret as I stood barefoot on line at the security checkpoint. I figured I would just keep it in the side pocket of my backpack. I stuck my pack in one of those gray plastic bins and for the heck of it, kind of tucked the bottle out of view, even though I was almost sure the X-ray folks would see it and make me throw it out. But if not, I could keep my bottle of refreshing goodness and no one would get hurt. To my surprise, they did not stop me—either they didn’t detect it or I was racially ‘profiled’ on the spot as a non-threat. Now, believe me, I was glad to keep my water, but disappointed at the ease of which I smuggled such ‘newly labeled contraband’ into the gate area. Good thing I can feel safe with such high alerts and crack security agents watching out for bottle-wielding hydration freaks like me.