
Things I learned when I worked at LAX - JumpCrisscross
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-11-22/airport-secrets-from-dead-bodies-to-tsa-contraband-to-vip-lounges
======
dawnerd
“We can’t take for granted that there’s actually water in each plastic bottle,
so we have to dispose of each as though it could be lethal.”

100% nonsense. They just pour it down the drain - or more commonly in the
trash.

~~~
goalieca
If they could assume it’s water then why take it in the first place?

~~~
OnlineGladiator
His point is if it were truly lethal they wouldn't just add it to the public
water supply like that, or hastily dispose of what might be a biohazard in a
public trash can.

In other words the TSA is full of shit.

~~~
oconnor663
I mean, if someone wanted to put poison in the (waste) water supply, they
could just pour it down their own drain. It's not like the TSA has special
drains. I think it's fair for them not to worry about poisoning the water
supply any more than anyone else does.

~~~
OnlineGladiator
I don't think anybody is worried about the water being unsafe except for the
TSA, who are hastily discarding it. So no, if they are taking the stance that
the water might be unsafe, they are responsible for disposing of it safely.

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undefined3840
LAX international terminal tip: there’s a “secret” security check entrance on
the baggage claim level meant for people who are connecting (and therefore
needing to pick up bags) but they will let anyone use it. The regular security
line can be huge and no TSA pre-check for most int’l flights.

~~~
chrisseaton
> meant for people who are connecting (and therefore needing to pick up bags)

Why do airports in the US do this? At other airports in other countries your
bag moves automatically onto the new flight. In the US I have to manually pick
it up, almost leave the airport, and then go back in again to drop it off?!

~~~
JCharante
I've never encountered this in the US.

~~~
chrisseaton
Happens every time I fly from Europe to Newark, and then on to another US
city. You go through customs, pick you bags up off one belt, walk a hundred
meters, and put it on another belt. And in doing that you leave security so
you have to do it all again!! Why not send bags automatically through?

~~~
seanmcdirmid
You would have to go through security again anyways since you are coming off
an international flight (same is true in japan, Russia, Europe).

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sdiq
>"On Ferguson’s very first day, a passenger from East Africa opened her
suitcase to reveal rotting dried fish covered in hundreds of tse tse larvae.
When they jumped out and clung to Ferguson’s vest, the flustered woman reached
across the counter and started eating them off his uniform."

I am East African and would equally find that repugnant just as he did.
Earlier tonight l came across this tweet(1). The insects shown seem to be
delicacy on the other side of my country. I come from the same part as the
gentleman tweeting.

1\.
[https://mobile.twitter.com/Asmali77/status/11986755591670210...](https://mobile.twitter.com/Asmali77/status/1198675559167021056)

~~~
mirimir
Fried grasshoppers (chipolines) are a staple in Oaxaca's zocalo. They're great
with beer.

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misnome
Celebrities can pay to skip things, people try to smuggle things, false
positives happen a lot and bottled water is expensive but - somehow - really
profitable!

“Secrets”

~~~
Mediterraneo10
> bottled water is expensive but - somehow - really profitable!

The first time I encountered liquids being banned from carry-on luggage – a
few years before any ban came into force in North America or Europe – was in
China. A bottle of spirits I had packed in my carry-on was confiscated as I
passed through security. And yet as soon as I got through security, I arrived
at a series of shops selling the exact same stuff that people could buy and
take on the plane. At the time, I wondered if this was less a security fear,
and more an intentional trick to drum up business for the airport’s own retail
by forcing passengers to buy bottled water, gifts and souvenirs from them
instead of a cheaper place in town.

~~~
CPLX
I mean I agree the TSA theatre is complete and total nonsense, but the logic
here is at least defensible. Those goods are inspected as well and they have a
known supply chain.

They’re not worried about bottled water, obviously, they’re worried about
something bad that _looks_ like bottled water carried in by _you_.

~~~
diminoten
TSA theatre isn't complete and total nonsense. The illusion of safety has all
kinds of secondary benefits, both offensively and defensively.

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johnnycab
The article seems like a collated excerpt from stories shared on the front
page of the internet, albeit still a good read. In between the bizarre
justification for why water costs more. There are book-ended TIL moments like:
_for Lufthansa and Air New Zealand departures, I carted out extra handles of
alcohol_ ─ a 'handle' translates as 1.75L (half-gallon/60-pounder) of liquor
bottle, to the cheesy ending:

 _One time, the team popped a can of Pringles and found a live cobra._

In this case, once you pop ─ you will stop.

[https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-origin-of-the-term-
handle-...](https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-origin-of-the-term-handle-of-
liquor#)

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CalChris
SFO has an occasional tour. It costs frequent flyer miles. It's oriented
towards FFs who basically live at the airport anyways and wanted to see what
is beneath them. They exist (MileagePlus) but are usually announced on email
lists to the FFs themselves.

[https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-
mileageplus/...](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-
mileageplus/1979195-august-22-23-sfo-maintenance-tour.html)

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pintxo
> Even more disturbing were tools for potential terrorism, such as cell phone
> signal jammers.

More likely self-defense for teachers /s

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rymohr
Others seem to be commenting entirely from their own perspective. Try viewing
this from the TSA’s or an attacker’s perspective instead and thinking about
boundary layers.

In regard to the comments about disposing potentially hazardous water bottles,
a TSA agent can rightfully assume that an attacker could dump the contents of
said water bottle at any point before the security checkpoint, including into
the public water supply. The fact they don’t attempt to prevent this from
happening doesn’t make them full of shit, it actually saves tax payer dollars.

~~~
lucb1e
> Try viewing this from the TSA’s or an attacker’s perspective instead

Those are two very different ones, though. Of the TSA I hear nothing but
"theater", so I don't know if they're a for-profit, an organisation to make
people feel safe, or just implementing the letter of the law; regardless, the
attacker's perspective would be entirely different.

And if you read a few of the comments, most of them do view it from an
attacker's point of view. Nobody is going "my precious water has to be thrown
away", but rather arguments about what kind of attacks it stops and doesn't
stop.

~~~
rymohr
Yes they are very separate perspectives.

I’d argue they’re still viewing it from their own perspective, though one
where they are attempting to circumvent security measures as an attacker.

I’m not talking about that kind of perspective shift. I’m talking about
putting on the hat of a cold blooded killer intent on making as big a
statement as possible.

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tracer4201
The article was great, but there are so many ads on the page. Every time I
scroll on my iPad, there seems to be another ad in the center of the page. I’m
going to assume this disappears for subscribers but just wow. The article was
interesting, but the writing here is nothing I’d get a subscription for. Seems
like the author read a bunch of TIL Reddit posts and glued their various bits
together. It’s all one or two line anecdotes with no additional substance.
Celebrities have a private terminal and skip lines? Color me surprised!

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neonate
[http://archive.is/qd1Nf](http://archive.is/qd1Nf)

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polynomial
LAX really employs 55,000 workers?

~~~
maxerickson
It's operating 24 hours.

I bet the number of people working at a given time is more like 15,000.

~~~
jaclaz
Yep, maybe even less, it is also 24/7, rule of the thumb is that for each
position 5 (depending on the contract/mansion even 6) people are needed, to
cover holidays, leaves, illnesses, etc., in a year there are 8760 hours, and
hours worked are rarely more than 1800 or so.

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laysanatomy
One of the biggest perks, if not the only one, of being insanely rich (+$50m)
is that if you travel by private jet, you don't really need to pass through
the snarky eyes of immigration.

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cushychicken
I am so glad that my line of work has next to no chance of opening a chip can
and finding a venomous snake.

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markus_zhang
Thanks for sharing, very interesting read!

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tsomctl
So, is it only two paragraphs, or do I not understand how to use their
website?

~~~
dvfjsdhgfv
It's enough to turn off JS. You can find the relevant switch in the bottom-
right corner of uBlock Origin.

~~~
tsomctl
Thanks. I'm so used to uBlock Origin just working that I didn't even think of
it.

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ojagodzinski
paywall

