I got the attitude recently... stuck my hands in my (jeans) pockets, great, nothing in there, off I go through the metal detector.

"Is there anything in your pockets?"
"...No?" (Confusion from me. Because I just checked.)
*She wands me. Points to my front pocket.*
"Take it out." All snotty. I stick my hand in, root around, still confused... stuck waaaay down in the corner where the fabric folds back on itself are a couple nickels.

I mean, why the attitude? You really think I'm trying to overthrow the United States, or at least Dulles Airport, with less than 20 cents? I can't even ride the horsey at the grocery store with the coins I was trying to "smuggle" through and she's acting like I tried to bring through 20 bottles of bootleg whisky. No need for her to be snide about it; a neutral "I'm getting a reading on your pocket, can you check again?" would have done fine.


But yes, food is a nightmare-- that story recently about the woman who was given an apple on the plane, didn't eat it but stuck it in her bag, forgot about it, and was slapped with a $5000 fine when she got to the U.S.? Ridiculous. (I don't think I've ever had produce make it back to the U.S., but it might have made it through security on a layover. I usually refuse the little bottles of water now because I'm not going to drink them whilst on the plane, so no point in having them thrown out and wasted at my connection. The security folks at Narita airport very kindly let me drink my carton of plane-supplied soy milk on my way through rather than making me toss it-- and by that I mean, they actually were quite kind about it, even threw out the empty carton for me when I was done and there was no trash can nearby in the passenger area.)