IN MY SHOES: What Kind Of IED Can You Make With Maple Syrup, Anyway?
Larissa Kosmos describes how a souvenir bottle of Canadian maple syrup complicated her travel plans during a recent trip from NYC’s La Guardia Airport to her parents’ home in Cleveland in this post on The New York Times’ "Motherlode" blog:
I was making my way through the security line at, hoisting my small carry-on bag onto the conveyor belt, barefoot on the public floor …
The officer politely told me that if I wanted to transport the maple syrup to Cleveland, I’d have to check in my bag. No problem. Having arrived at the airport a good hour before my 11:10 a.m. flight, I still had time to return to the terminal and do that.
At the counter, the airline agent tapped on her keyboard. “That’ll be fifteen dollars,” she said. Shoot again. Checking bags now costs money. I had paid $8.50 for the maple syrup.
Considering it was the only reason for checking this small, lightweight bag, was there any chance the fifteen-dollar fee could be waived? Sympathetic, the agent suggested I ask her supervisor, who was standing behind me.
“No,” he said firmly. A rule was a rule. I had to pay the baggage fee or throw away the maple syrup so that I could bring my bag onto the plane. …
Could the supervisor direct me to a locker where I might store the small jug? I’d be at the airport again in just a couple days when I returned to New York with the kids.
“No more lockers after 9-11.”
Of course. Could he hold it for me in his office?
“Airport officials are not allowed to take anything from passengers.” …
[I]t occurred to me to call my husband. … But it turns out he was fairly close to home already and, with a $5.50 toll in each direction, returning for the maple syrup would cost $11. Bummer. I didn’t want it to go to waste.
Like the Ancient Mariner stuck with that albatross around his neck, Kosmos waylaid several passersby importuning them to take the syrup as a gift, but it took several tries before she succeeded in getting rid of the thing:
It was a sign of the times. You cannot trust a stranger. And who in their right mind walks around an airport - in New York, no less - trying to give away a jug of maple syrup? Heck, I was crazy. We live here with a permanent shadow of 9-11. We are reminded to be wary of unusual behavior. I myself probably wouldn’t take maple syrup from a stranger. Someone might appear safe, but you never know.
Proponents of the Ground Zero mosque would do well to keep in mind that the same could be said of Imam Feisal Rauf.
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