The Inside of a TSA X-Ray Machine
This is what happens when ADHD gets the best of you when you’re on line at LAX and there’s no First Class lane, no CLEAR lane, and only two lanes of six open. Oh, and when it’s 4:30am in the morning, and I haven’t had enough coffee. And by “enough,” I mean “any.”
It occurs to you that it might be fun to see what the inside of the TSA X-Ray machine looks like. Barring me actually going in said machine, I did the next best thing, and sent my brand new Flip TV digital video camera through, turned on.
It’s things like this that reaffirm my decision not to take Adderal. Hee. :)
Starting the trek back to NYC… More soon!
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:03 am
I’m reasonably sure some policy was violated there, but I’m not sure what ;-)
I like the speckles, presumably when the X-Ray-O-Tron bombarded your new camera with high-powered invisible radiation.
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:42 am
Peter, that’s funny. Never thought of doing that. Nice work.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:04 am
At least time “said having no coffee or not enough” you didnt get on the wrong plane after getting through the security…..
(who failed not once but twice to notice your ticket was for another flight)
HAPPY FRIDAY PETER!!
XXX
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:55 am
I like the nonchalant look on your face — no one would ever suspect!
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:00 am
My ADD spouse quit the ritilin and now just mainlines caffeine…he said that it works just the same…and is easier to get than showing up at the docs office each month.
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:09 am
I thought I broke new ground when I put my infant son through a scanner at PDX. Thought it would be funny and cool and all that but didn’t think about the report on the experience would just be “da da brite sun head hurts” – OK, not really. Good job, now I’ll have to think about something else other than “I wonder…” for those 30 seconds waiting for my gear to get through Master X.
kb
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:18 am
Isn’t it fun to see what is amusing when we are sleep and coffee deprived while travelling. Your creative brain was working though!
Have a good weekend!
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:24 am
Peter:
I was hoping for a light show or something inside the TSA machine. I am so disappointed.
Regarding the ADD thing, when my husband was a middle school teacher in inner-city Brooklyn–in special ed, no less–many of his kids needed meds but their families couldn’t afford them. So the teachers gave them coffee every morning, and all the kids behaved as if they were actually medicated. Well, I guess they were, just without a prescription.
Safe flight home!
Leah
P.S. Knowing how much you love to multi-task, wouldn’t it be ideal if you could combine your flight back to New York WITH your planned jump for this weekend?
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:27 am
Very entertaining, Peter, although I am sure that you violated some rules even if they were unspoken.
I echo the cool speckles comment too.
Happy Friday to all!
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:27 am
I agree with Charlotte, you would make a good spy!
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:30 am
That you can find a way to amuse yourself in the security line of the airport at 4:30 in the morning sans coffee only underscores what I’ve been saying to you since I first started getting your HARO emails ~ you have an awesome sense of humor! Do you play practical jokes?
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:38 am
I was expecting so much more but I’m sure the fireworks that I wanted to see will happen when the TSA informs you of the 5 Federal Laws that you broke under the Patriot Act or when people take your video and mash it up – hint, hint.
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:48 am
Almost like what happens when you go under anesthesia. Hmmm, maybe we could all put ourselves under for the duration of the flight. No more wishing we had bought that lousy sandwich before we boarded, worrying about the screaming brat in seat 3A, upset about losing computer battery power, etc… Bliss.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:16 am
What a great way to pass the time! Reminds me of coming out of anesthesia!
Enjoy your weekend and, for god’s sake, drink some coffee!
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I see an extraordinary rendition in your future. when we all see the tweet that says “black bagged” we’ll know.
nicely done. I want a Flip now
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Are you sure you really have ADD? I could have managed putting the camera through the machine. By the time I got home, 27 other brainstorms will have distracted me from uploading, posting and publicizing the video. I usually settle for writing the idea in a notebook, then putting it back in my purse, never to be seen again.
And I AM a cup of coffee.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Hey! I always wondered what happened in there! Nice super spy look too, I would have looked guilty and gotten busted. :-)
Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I expected more too… maybe the light-speed or hyper-space effect from Star Wars, but still enjoyable.
Have been considering a FlipTV unit myself too.
BTW- Love HARO, nice work.
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Hey! Is that Yoohoo shirt from your birthday party?
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I particularly enjoy your nonchalant, “… here we go….” after the fact.
Like: I’m not talking to anyone, officer, not even the zillions who will watch this on YouTube in about an hour after I blast this off to my list of thousands … ha, ha, ha!!
Nice job!
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:30 pm
The Flip is addictive. Wish I had the model with the mount hole in the bottom. Reads dirty, but it’s not.
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Peter, that’s hilarious. You look so innocent and, like Ann said, nonchalant. I would have been giggling uncontrollably, I’m sure. Enjoy your final hours of freedom before the feds bust into your house, confiscate your Flip, and haul you off to prison. ;) They do tend to overreact about this stuff, don’t they?
Thanks for the laugh.
kk
May 28th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
[...] on while passing it through the TSA flight screening machine, and the resulting footage is above. Link. It’s simple, but I like the sparkly parts where the poor little camera gets nuked. [...]
May 29th, 2008 at 3:01 am
[...] on while passing it through the TSA flight screening machine, and the resulting footage is above. Link. It’s simple, but I like the sparkly parts where the poor little camera gets nuked. [...]
May 29th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
And that proved…..??????
June 12th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
A bit anti-climatic albeit amusing. Was kind of hoping to see security nab you and give you a hard time for video taping their top notch security equipment. What is TSA’s testing percentage again?