Sunday, February 13, 2005
Airplanes, Judges, and Pocket Knives
A few days ago I heard a news story about a judge who tried to board an airplane with a small, two-inch pocket knife. The security screener found the knife and told him that he would have to place it in his checked baggage. Knives are not allowed in the passenger compartments of airplanes. The judge went away from the screening area and soon returned. This time the screener found the knife tucked away in his carry-on luggage. The judge was arrested and charged with trying to carry a concealed weapon on to a plane. His explanation was that the knife was a precious gift and he didn’t want it to be lost. He had tried to conceal it by stuffing it into a shoe in his carry-on luggage.
The rest of the news story dealt with the sort of punishment that would be appropriate. Clearly the judge was not a terrorist and intended no harm to the plane or its occupants. However, he is a judge and should have known better. A judge is supposed to uphold the law, and for committing a crime, he should certainly be punished.
I am not a judge. However, something similar happened to me once. My wife and I took a one-week vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I carried with me a Victorinox Swiss Army knife that my daughter had given me as a present. The knife was precious to me. There was no problem boarding the plane in Los Angeles. In those days, American security screeners did not regard Swiss Army Knives as lethal weapons. However, when it was time to board the return flight in Cabo, I found that Mexican security screeners had a different view of pocket knives. I could not take the knife with me into the cabin of the plane. I would have to check it.
My wife called me to hurry and board the plane and perhaps was not aware of my problem with the knife. There wasn’t time to retrieve my checked luggage to place the knife inside it. All I could do was have an identity tag attached to the knife and take the claim tag with me. I was told I could retrieve the knife in Los Angeles.
Well, of course, the knife never showed up. I complained to the Airline Company and eventually received some money to cover the loss. It wasn’t enough, of course. I bought a new knife of the same model as the one I had lost. It cost me about thirty dollars. The money from the Airline Company was about fifteen.
I have thought for years about a Mexican security screener who acquired a nice Swiss Army knife. Perhaps he gave it to his son as a gift. I hope that whoever now has the knife regards it as precious as I did.
The last time I traveled by air I learned that checked luggage has to be left unlocked so that it can be inspected for explosives and other bad things. I have also read that some travelers complain that precious things disappear from their checked luggage. Not all luggage screeners and baggage handlers are scrupulously honest. I can understand the judge’s reluctance to trust placing his knife in unlocked luggage.
The rest of the news story dealt with the sort of punishment that would be appropriate. Clearly the judge was not a terrorist and intended no harm to the plane or its occupants. However, he is a judge and should have known better. A judge is supposed to uphold the law, and for committing a crime, he should certainly be punished.
I am not a judge. However, something similar happened to me once. My wife and I took a one-week vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I carried with me a Victorinox Swiss Army knife that my daughter had given me as a present. The knife was precious to me. There was no problem boarding the plane in Los Angeles. In those days, American security screeners did not regard Swiss Army Knives as lethal weapons. However, when it was time to board the return flight in Cabo, I found that Mexican security screeners had a different view of pocket knives. I could not take the knife with me into the cabin of the plane. I would have to check it.
My wife called me to hurry and board the plane and perhaps was not aware of my problem with the knife. There wasn’t time to retrieve my checked luggage to place the knife inside it. All I could do was have an identity tag attached to the knife and take the claim tag with me. I was told I could retrieve the knife in Los Angeles.
Well, of course, the knife never showed up. I complained to the Airline Company and eventually received some money to cover the loss. It wasn’t enough, of course. I bought a new knife of the same model as the one I had lost. It cost me about thirty dollars. The money from the Airline Company was about fifteen.
I have thought for years about a Mexican security screener who acquired a nice Swiss Army knife. Perhaps he gave it to his son as a gift. I hope that whoever now has the knife regards it as precious as I did.
The last time I traveled by air I learned that checked luggage has to be left unlocked so that it can be inspected for explosives and other bad things. I have also read that some travelers complain that precious things disappear from their checked luggage. Not all luggage screeners and baggage handlers are scrupulously honest. I can understand the judge’s reluctance to trust placing his knife in unlocked luggage.
