And the thugs ARRESTED him? He was absolutely right.

I was traveling with an 11 month old and was told that he had to go through the metal detector by himself! It was explained to me that each person must be scanned separately so they know who set the alarm off. I told them that regardless of who set the alarm off he would stay with me. After refusing to move from the scanner and creating a line for about 3-4 minutes they relented, let us go through together, and everything was fine.

There's a currently running thread on the Flyertalk frequent fliers' site on "temper tantrums I have seen". It's at:

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=658113

And some of them are downright hilarious.

At the airport in Austin, I had to take my son's airplane seat to the security exit (where you walk out after arrival) because the security guards at the x-ray machine wouldn't take it for a hand-check there, then had to get back in line to go through again. I don't like to pitch fits at the TSA staff; I know they're doing the best, generally, but I growled "You guys really need to work on your procedures" when I went through the second time (with five family members of mine waiting on the other side of security).

I think I heard recently about some dad sending his infant in an infant carrier through the x-ray machine.

This wasn't even close to funny. As my wife and I were going through security leaving Savannah, we saw a young man explaining to one of the TSA weenies that the plastic bag he had sent though x-ray in a tray had disappeared. It contained his military ID tags (possible violation of regulations) and two wedding bands (one man's and one woman's) as well as the usual prosaic stuff like his wallet and change.
To their credit, TSA tried to search the rather small concourse for the stuff, but we don't know whether he got it back.

The security procedures only keep the honest people frustrated and busy to cut down on their fears.

The funniest thing I have seen (funny in a bad way) is the whole security screening process itself. It is a joke. After traveling from Washington to Orlando and back with our nine children, the security procedures both at Dulles and Orlando were chaotic madhouses. There are WAY too many bags, and they go through WAY to fast for those glazy-eyed TSA people to prevent contraband from getting through. There is NO WAY there is any improved method to this madness. Our airports are no more secure than they were prior to 9/11.

My husband and I nearly missed our flight to Portland from BWI in 2002 because the woman in front of us was traveling to the Mosquito Coast as part of a mission for her church. She had apparently checked the wrong bag and had mistakenly grabbed the suitcase containing about 6 MACHETES and bibles for her carry-on. Needless to say, security came to a screeching halt while the airport authorities questioned her. They finally opened security back up and we got to our terminal just as they were about the shut the doors.

It was my fault, really, because I let her go ahead of me in line as we approached security.

"The security procedures only keep the honest people frustrated and busy to cut down on their fears."

Which is really ridiculous because I think most people aren't afraid to fly. At least I don't think that many people are afraid of terrorist attacks. I'm not. I find the whole charade a huge hassle and I'm sick of it. I definitely prefer to drive now.

I half-stripped in Dallas once. I was very pregnant and wearing maternity overalls. I kept setting off the scanner, and finally, the security person had me unbuckle my overall straps and lo! I didn't beep. I still have no idea why that worked.

Several years ago, before all of the really weird stuff started, I was flying out of San Francisco on the Red Eye. As we were waiting for departure, a tall gentleman came to the x-ray gate wearing cowboy boots complete with spurs. He took of the spurs and passed them through the side. A man sitting next to me was also watching this and commented to me "I wonder what he thought he was riding tonight?"

The security regulations with regard to carry-on liquid is different here in Britain. While back home in Washington for Christmas, I stocked up on travel-sized contact lenses solution after twice having to throw out very expensive bottles at the gate. Leaving London recently, the security guard stopped me and told me that my 108 ml contact lenses solution was over the limit of 100 ml. I tried to argue that I flew into London with it, and he said that all countries have different standards, and he told me that he was surprised to recently learn that even other countries in the EU had different regulations, "after all it's supposed to be a common market." I, not so calmly, explained to him that is not why its surprising, its really surprising because they can't all agree on what a SAFE level of liquid is to fly with is. And if it was so unsafe, and had to be stringently enforced to the ml level, to fly out of London, why didn't the Spanish government seem to think 108 ml was dangerous on their planes? Its like they make it up as they go. The best part was when he suggested that I just buy a bottle from the pharmacy after I got through security. I went to check, and lo and behold, their travel-sized contact lenses solution, 108 ml.

2 years ago I was in Changi airport in Singapore waiting to board a flight to Delhi. A woman was cleaning her husband's ears with a (no exaggeration)10-inch long thin sharp-looking silver instrument. Looked like a spike. He just sat there quietly - I wondered whether she'd reached his brain.
I also wondered how she got the ear-cleaning tool into the airport.

When I was in Raleigh-Durham airport not so long ago, I got picked at the metal detector for a wand screening. The machine detects my watch, I roll the sleeve up, no problem, right?

The screener stares at my watch for about thirty seconds, trying to figure out what it is (for the record, a simple sport watch). Then, he moves on, sweeps past, for some reason runs my arm again, the machine bings on the watch again, and again he stares at it for far longer than I hope it takes to figure out it's a watch.

On the third time, his supervisor remarks that yes, it's still the watch on my wrist. Finally, I get through.

Because the passerger screening process and rules are a joke - especially since the London fluid scare - I now lie when I travel. It is easier.

I routinely bring my carryon through the x-ray system full of liquids and gels like toothpaste, hand lotion, and lip balm. I never pull that stuff out of my bag and put it into a quart sized "Freedom Baggie." Guess what - I've travelled through more than 10 checkpoints this year alone on business and personal travel throughout the US and no one has stopped me.

Stupidest security incident I've seen - two years ago when a painfully pregnant woman wearing flip flops and carrying an infant was asked to take off her flip flops to put through xRay. She could barely bend over, her kid was freaked out, and she was nearly in tears. The TSA idiots and their Nazi manager refused to help her. Luckily the passenger behind her stepped in to help out.

Shoes on, go to jail.
At SFO last year, they announced that you didn't have to take your shoes off. I knew my soft soled shoes were OK so I left them on. This earned me immediate entrance to the "special exam" area where I was thoroughly searched. I wasn't concerned until the obese inspector started sticking his hands down my pants. Finally, I just dropped my pants to send them through the X-ray machine (following my shoes, wallet, jacket, etc.). Fortunately, he didn't require me to remove my boxers.