Airport Security. Public and Private Spaces. Wine.

This morning I found myself at the SeaTac airport dropping off my 12 year old cousin, Brandy, for her flight back home to Minnesota.  This was the first time I’d been to the airport since the new security restrictions on liquids went into effect. 

As we stood in the security line, we watched as most folks passed right through without much issue.  Shoes in a bin.  Wallets, phones, and pocket change in a plastic bag.  Jackets off.  People understand the process.  There wasn’t a cup of coffee in sight.  Then I noticed the bottle of wine on the table.  It was a good wine.  It wasn’t a great wine, but it was definitely decent.  It was a single bottle surrounded by bubble wrap and tape.  It looked as though somebody had taken their souvenir from Washington’s wine country and wrapped it for the trip. I wondered what the TSA was going to do with that bottle.  I had seen photos on the news with large trash bins at security filled with a liquid concoction reminiscent of several bad ideas at college parties… uhh, nevermind.  But here was a bottle of wine and it was segregated from other ‘contraband’ in the area.  After a few moments, I watched as one of the TSA screeners picked up the bottle, walked passed the security line toward ticketing, and dropped the bottle into a general purpose trash can. 

The first thought that came to my mind was this – Could I walk to the trash can, pick out the bottle, and take it to my car?  Now, of course, my first priority was getting Brandy to her gate so I wasn’t actively pursuing this idea.  This also meant that I couldn’t walk up to the wine carrying screener and simply ask, “Since you threw that away, can I have it?” without being late to the gate.  However, I also had some time to think about it.  I was in the unique position of probably being the one person in line that saw the entire event – bottle being ‘collected’, moved, and put in the trash.  Everybody else in line would be heading to flights.  Since I was simply an escort, I could pass by the trash can again.  I wasn’t necessarily looking to be a TSA test case for our new security precautions, but Northwest has suggested dumpster diving to its soon-to-be laid off employees. 

Several questions are left unanswered in my head:  Can I, Joe Citizen, pick something out of a trash bin at an airport without getting arrested?  If the bottle was a potential threat, why is it being dumped in an unsecured trash bin? 

As I left the terminal and passed the trash can I kept walking and didn’t look down.  I didn’t want the temptation.