Saturday, November 15, 2008

"Dangerous" Tortillas


On Friday I took an early morning flight from Orlando to Washington, DC and spent the day running errands before my 6PM flightback to Amsterdam. One of the stops was Wegmans - my favorite grocery store. I stocked up on a bag of fresh corn tortillas and put them in my backpack.

As I was going through security I noticed the screener's brow furrow, and then he called for a bag check. I've seen this look before, having had several embarrassing security incidents in my past - from forgetting about a box cutter in my bag shortly after September 11th to having my bag test positive for explosive residue.

The woman who came looked at the screen and said "Do you have tortillas in your bag? I need to look inside." After checking my bag and laughing, she let me take the "dangerous tortillas" and I went on my way. I was impressed with how she knew they were tortillas before even opening my bag.

It's not the first time I've been busted for tortillas. Several years ago I was traveling from DC to Rochester and was bringing my brother some fajitas from his favorite Tex Mex place near my house. I had carefully packed up the entire meal (chips, salsa, tortillas, meat, rice and even the beans). I got stopped for a random bag check and after looking through one side of my bag the screener said "Let me guess..... The tortillas and chips are in the other pouch?" I had to laugh and smile sheepishly as he discovered the rest of my loot.

1 comment:

ljc said...

That is so funny. Quesadilla contraband!