I always carry a sign of luck. It’s a Zippo lighter that I bought myself some years ago. I don’t smoke and so I don’t use it – in fact, it isn’t filled with gas. It is just to have something with me, that reminds me of good times.
In february I was traveling to Uruguay for visiting good friends of mine. At Frankfurt airport, I was checked for anything forbidden and they found my Zippo. The security guy asked me about it and I explained that the Zippo was empty. He tried some times just to make sure, I was telling the truth.
Some days later, on my flight to Rio de Janeiro, I was checked again at Montevideo airport. This time, the security guy told me, Zippo are not allowed on international flights.
As I replyed that the Zippo is empty and wouldn’t work, he simply wasn’t listening. I asked him to check the lighter of functionality but he simply pointed with his finger on a sign on the wall.
On that sign one could clearly read the word “Forbidden” and it showed a silhouette of a gas ligher.
So I had two options: Let him throw away my empty 60 € Zippo or don’t pass the gate and miss the airplane.
I recognized that the man was trained to simply follow his instructions. He wasn’t trained to use his brain like the security guy at Frankfurt airport.
I was not angry about my lighter, I was surprised how easy it is, to expose airport security to “airport stupidity”:
As you can imagine, I was not the only one in that airplane. I guess there were about 200 smoking people with lighters on that airplane. This means that they where about 200 lighters with on that airplane. Do they had to throw away all the lighters before entering?
Not at all.
Every kid knows that you can do dangerous things with lighters (search for it on Youtube and you know what I mean – and don’t try it at home!).
On that flight, nobody was safer.
I lost 60 € and the security guy went home with a new Zippo. Fuck off.
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