Suddenly, I dread going on a plane on Tuesday. :X

My favorite airport security story! Let me tell you it!

Now, when I went to Japan with my grandpa, I didn't really have many problems with security. I had to walk through metal dectectors a whole bunch, I was parted with my bag about half the time, I had to take out all of my myriad electronics and have them scanned individually, and since this was when they were freaking out about plastic explosives, I had to give them all of my makeup, which sucked, since I was hoping that I'd have some lip balm on a 13 hour flight. But it wasn't that bad, really.

Coming home wasn't that bad either. The Japanese weren't as super-paranoid as folks'll get in American airports, so basically just go through customs, declare stuff, get scanned a buncha times, head on the plane, go home. I think they also had me take my makeup away, but this time I was prepared and had them all in a bag and everything went just fine.

The problems came when we arrived back in Detroit airport. You see, my grandpa had come to Japan for two reasons. The first reason was so that he could go and spend time with his family and show us Japan and have a good time. The second was so that he could meet up with one of the Japanese professors that he works with and get a bunch of blood samples that they had collected for his research with the University.

So my Grandpa has this unmarked styrofoam package sealed with duct tape filled with dry ice and vials of blood. He brings it up to customs and, naturally, they ask him what it is.

His response: "It's for science!"

Yeah. Bad idea. He didn't help his case by declaring that "This is worthless to you and is everything to me!" and generally being evasive and defensive. I mean, for all they knew he was trying to spread some sort of bioweapon in there.

I was right behind him in line, the guy who was doing the customs told me to go to the other line just as he was calling CDC. My family and I got through with no problems and we went straight home.

My grandpa got detained for about nine hours by CDC. They tested every single one of the samples to make sure that they didn't have some sort of infectious disease in them, and apparently guns were involved at some point. Fortunately for him, he was a professor at the University as he claimed he was, and when they called them, they confirmed that yes, he did go to Japan to get these blood samples from the University of Kyoto, for an experiment that did not involve bioweapons, but, instead, the effects of nicotine, an area that he's been working in for the past, like, fifty years.

Fortunately for him they let him have it back after all this, instead of just tossing them out at their first suspicion. So in the end, his lab did get the samples, and experiments were indeed run.

Yeah, good times. I don't know how he got it as far as Detroit, because that package was pretty suspicious no matter what the Department of Defense says the terrorist threat level is.

Airport security = failport security.

Good to know you made it out in one piece.

Bah airport security is weird. O_o When I flew by myself to Missouri earlier in the year, it was pretty easy, but I have heard some crazy stories from friends and family. Goodness gracious!

Oh and lol, Krahka!

Wow, nice. That's some serious business there lolz

Omg reminds me of when our family flew up to Portland, OR, for the weekend a couple years ago lolz. My brother (at the time) sported unkempt long hair (past his shoulders) and a 6-inch goatee. He wore chains and all kinds of punk and/or metal clothing. The rest of the family looked like average family-type people (I don't much anymore, but I used to be lolz). He foes through all security with flying colors. The rest of us are all stopped, patted down, screened, etc.

It was....interesting =/

KK=-