[Harp-L] Re: Travel, Harmonicas, Respect

[Garry Hodgson <garry@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jp Pagan <jpl_pagan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>  i just put the cases
> in a tray like i do my laptop and they always just go
> through. if i see the screener raise an eyebrow when
> the harps cross their screen i say "they're
> harmonicas" really loudly and that's the end of that. 

i go one step further.  i open up the case flat with the 
harps plainly visible, and put it on the tray.  you want
them to figure it out before that first eyebrow is raised.

the last time i traveled they actually thanked me for 
doing that.  said it would definitely have raised eyebrows,
if not alarms.

>   of course, mics and cables are different problem,
> but i'd try to deal with them similarly -- pack the
> cables in a little bag of some sort, mics separate
> from that, and put it all in a tray when you go
> through security. telling the screeners ahead of time
> that you have musical gear doesn't hurt either. 

this is crucial.  once they see something suspicious,
you've triggered a set of responses that you don't want
to deal with.

>    really, there's no reason you should be stopped for
> having harmonicas -- it's clear from the x-rays that
> there are no cutting edges and there's no way they can
> be mistaken for explosives, firearms, or anything like
> that. 

i've been told that harps look like ammo clips.  at the least,
they look like something unknown, which is enough to make
people nervous.  you do *not* want to make them nervous.
i once spent a very tense 5 minutes or so as they ran my 
backpack through the machine again and again, due to a 
single harp i'd forgotten was in there.  they wouldn't let me 
near the screen or the backback to figure out what was in 
there, and you could feel everyone's stress level ratcheting 
up .  not a fun way to start a vacation.


----
Garry Hodgson, Technical Consultant, AT&T Labs

We do not come here to stay the same.
We come here to be changed.
- Alison B. Miller