TSA

flying back from CA, going through the security checkpoint...pushed my backpack through the conveyor to be x-rayed...TSA operator called for a bag check and i was whisked off to the side for an inspection...the inspector asked if i had scissors in my backpack and i answered "no" as if he was crazy (how the heck would scissors have gotten in there? i know i don't usually bring them on my vacations!). i was confused as to what they might have seen during the x-ray screening...he used his tongs to search the contents of my backpack and after the tongs didn't detect anything, he finally retrieved a gray plastic bag with a green box in it...at that moment, i realized i had forgotten to pack that green box***containing two ceramic knives***in my suitcase! he informed me that one can not bring knives onto airplanes and i believe he was quite serious...and since i was shocked about what i had forgotten to do and couldn't believe i was having this experience, i agreed instead of making a comment like "no s**t"...he told me i could either leave them there (heck no!) or that i could mail them from a hallmark store outside the terminal for $5 (but of course!). it was nearing my departure time so i scurried out towards the store (after asking one retailer for directions) and i made contact with a new employee who was very slow-moving and wasn't sure how to ship something...tick tock, tick tock...she finally asked a co-worker what to do, and after filling out a form with my contact information and getting ready to pay, she announced that it would be $15...come to find out, there was no negotiation and no weight-based pricing applicable in the land of captive customers and $16 starbucks, so i paid it, scurried out and back to a different security line since they told me on the way to the hallmark that i would not have to go through it again....not the case, so it was once more off with the shoes and jacket and out with the ziploc of lotions and lip glosses...and successfully through security screening and back on with the shoes and jacket and in with the ziploc of lotions and lip glosses and up the stairs and to the gate and in line with the rest of the herd just in time to sit on the plane by the window with my ipod and fall asleep all the way back home...now i just have to wait for my new knives to arrive that were a lovely gift from a best friend...i guess it will be like getting a gift all over again!