No Cupcakes Allowed...Yea That Might Be the New Sign Posted at Airports

I found an article about airport security recently that shares the story of a woman who wanted to take a cupcake--yes a cupcake--on an airplane and was not allowed to. According to a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent, the woman attempted to bring the cupcake in a "jar filled with icing" onto the plane in her carry-on bag. The woman was stopped as the amount of jelly inside her cupcake exceeded the limits of 'gel' allowed on a plane (According to: http://blog.tsa.gov/2012/01/cupcakegate.html).

As much as I would like to poke fun at this, I do agree with the agent's decision in confiscating the cupcake because they were acting in the best interest of the people. Aside from the cupcake issue, airport security has been adjusted drastically post-nine-eleven. I believe that it is truly an issue of convenience vs. safety, and in my opinion, if I have to wait in line for an hour with a screaming baby behind me in order to ensure my safety, I will do it. So much of our society is based off of fast, fast, fast. Fast talking (texting), fast travel (cars going 120 mph with a speed limit of 55), fast food (Mcdonalds, etc.). We are used to fast and we get anxious when things don't go as quickly and smoothly as we planned. But if it meant saving your life, wouldn't you be willing to slow things down a bit?

I presented this issue to my class today, and one of my colleagues told me a story about how she had a little pedicure kit in her carry on that she didn’t realize had a Swiss-army switchblade in it. When she got to her hotel and was doing her nails, she realized it was in there. This was after having gone through security. My teacher then went on to tell the class that he had gotten through security with an actual switchblade knife in his carry on. No one stopped him and it was not detected in his bag whatsoever. My class seemed to support the argument of the agent from the cupcake article, saying that security should be increased because of average people getting through undetected.

So while security lines can be inconvenient, especially when it’s been forty-five minutes and the baby with new parents behind you won’t stop crying, it is important to remember that security is not there to piss us off; it is there to protect us. And, just a word of advice, if you want security to go as fast as possible, take precautions because you’re not just making the line longer for yourself. Moral to the story; if you really want a cupcake, just eat it before you get to the airport.