So there I was, trapped in the line we laughably call "security" at the Norfolk, VA airport.

I had STARTED the week by spending Super Bowl Sunday with Dr & Mrs Tannin at their shorefront VA Beach home -- and I'd brought lots of wine and one decent corkscrew. I had brought one checked suitcase and one rollaboard.

Now, here I stood on a Thursday evening, finally heading home for Memphis, and the "security" dude said "we'll have to check your luggage. It looks like -- maybe a corkscrew?"

AAARRRGGGHHH! Not another one! Not another corkscrew confiscated in the name of security! Why can I bring 16 bottles of WINE in my rollaboard, but not a freakin' CORKSCREW?!?

"No problem", says the guy, "as long as it doesn't have a knife blade on it you're all set".



"What? You mean I can now bring a corkscrew on board? Do you realize how many I have had confiscated from me? Is this a change in OFFICIAL policy?"

Yes, the policy has changed. The "security" guy confirmed it. I don't know WHEN it changed, but it's changed. Go ahead, bring your own corkscrew. Heck, hold your head up high and SHOW the darned thing to the "security" agents and say: I HAVE A CORKSCREW, AND YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT".

Well, maybe you oughtn't do that ... but you get the picture. Corkscrewers of North America, UNITE! WE'RE FINALLY FFFRRRRREEEEEEE!!!!!

Odd that the cork screw (without a 'blade') is ok, but they treat knitting needles like they're a Glock. <Yoda voice> "mmmmmm...Quite the weapon the corkscrew can be, yes..."</Yoda voice>

I really think, stemor, that carrying a corkscrew through security is still going to depend on who is working the "gate." Even though the official policy states a person is permitted to carry one, somehow I don't feel like those folks working the security area are going home each night and dutifully checking their manuals for recent updates to policy.

I'm not saying one won't make it through some checkpoints, but I'd still expect to have it confiscated. At least for a little while.

Stemor,

Thanks for spreading the word! This is very good news indeed!

Exactly it - I did a day roundtrip to San Diego last month - had no problems going through security with it (left in my carry-on from a former trip on the way there, but it was confiscated on the way back.

when we headed off to Australia, I checked several airline sites and most had posted the policy that corkscrews without knives were OK. However, boarding a Qantas flight IN Australia, I discovered that no corkscrews of any kind are permitted. So, check your destination country as well as the US.

\bob

There may be a new "set'' policy but I bet Petrus against Paringa the "set'' policy will vary from airport to airport and security person to security person. I won't be including a corkscrew in my carry-ons anytime soon.

Muddpuppy -- LOL!!! (hmmm Yoda hmm?)

I'd be careful, too. I have a new favorite corkscrew that I refuse to take with me on a plane as I would not want it tobe confiscated. Besides, it has a mini-knife to cut foil away...

"Why can I bring 16 bottles of WINE in my rollaboard, but not a freakin' CORKSCREW?!?"

Beware of those arguments or I foresee a very dull future for us all; don't give 'em guyz ideas
After the first SOB tries to hijack a plane using a broken bottle we'll have a hard time trying to smuggle another wine bottle on board...

Gastro - off topic q - why the picture of Purcell?

Free Winona? hahaha.

This is definitely the classic "One rotten apple spoils the bunch" scenario. However I think it is necessary. But how far is too far? Corkscrews might be too far.

I wonder what they did with the 342,141 corkscrews they have since confiscated. Get ready for cheap corkscrews on the black market! Maybe we can dump them in Japan in retaliation for minivans.

Go to ebay and do a search by seller, id: californiagold2000

yes, this is what happens to all the confiscated crap at the airport.

I just love Purcell, and it's a Not-Wine-Related hobby (like Winona) that I can slip in the forums. I've been using Free Winona! as signature for months, and once she's been released I think it's even more surrealist.
Lilac, are you among the several hundred million Americans who can tell Purcell from Bach just from his looks or what?

Gastro - I must confess. I did a right-button-click on your avatar image and looked at the url for the pic. The name of the man is right there. But, oddly enough, I knew who he was before I looked at the source. Dated a guy that had over 5,000 classical music CD's and he could have played the "Name That Tune" game in two notes.

Just thought it was a curious selection. And he doesn't look anything like Bach - are the two confused regularly? Bach post-dated Purcell by quite a lot.

Well, very off-topic I'll explain: I sort of hate Bach because in the Baroque-ish section he copes about 89% of the space. Ditto for the general public's mind.
For the same reason I "hate" Prokofiev (but I couldn't hate Puccini--I don't have to anyway, as he usually goes into a separate Opera section)
More or less, I woke up one morning and decided I wanted to know everything about Purcell, now I even collect different versions... Just imagine my wine approach but applied to one specific composer...
Anyway, it was all Michael Nyman's fault for directing me there...
Well, sure you didn't think wine is the only thing that's hard to find here!

Eric, you're kidding right? They sell this stuff on ebay?!

Nope, not kidding TJ, that California Surplus - including stuff confiscated from the airport. Where else are you going to by 30lbs of sissors, or 350 pocket knives? Pretty amazing, I had read about this in the SF Newspaper a while back.