It is official…unless some unforeseen circumstance comes up, as of last Friday, I am finished with pumping. Even though I was spending only 15 minutes at lunch each day doing it, I cannot tell you how liberating it feels. Not only do I get 15-20 minutes back of each day, but I do not have to plan lunch time activities around pumping. And the best part of all is it spares me taking two additional bags to work. While I was still pumping, I had five bags to carry on a normal day (laptop, lunch, ice bag for milk, pump and purse), six if I worked out at lunch, seven if I took Belén to school (diaper bag.) In short, WAY TOO MANY BAGS. I have felt like a bag lady for the last nine months.
I took this photo of Belén and the bags I still do carry after work today. Let me remind you this is the liberating number of fewer bags.
I also want to follow up on the Homeland Security bag-related story problem.
I posed this story problem three days ago. I have had numerous people ask me what the “answer” is but nobody has commented as to their solution. I know, it was a tough one 
as I was nearly sweating bullets in the real life scenario.
This is what I did:
- Removed running shoes from checked bag
- Move breastmilk from laptop backpack to checked bag
- Remove camera and detachable flash from camera bag
- Wrap camera and detachable flash in Pashmina and put in laptop bag (while crossing my fingers it didn’t break)
- Place tennis shoes in camera bag
- Check camera bag
Does anyone have any better ideas? I guess one better idea is what we need to do once we travel again (real soon) and do our research before we leave so we are not surprised once we get to the airport.
I thought I would be over it by now and I wouldn’t have to go into the TSA regulations crap that I dealt with after I figured out what to do with my bags, but I am still fired up about it enough that warrants the details.
I walked back to the US customs area in Toronto where I was to drop of my now two checked bags. Before reaching the drop-off area, I wound through two different queues, one of which ended with a customs official. A gentleman in a black uniform working for the Transportation Security Administration (I will call him TSAE #1- E for employee) asked me a few questions while I tried to juggle my four bags and pull my immigration/customs sheet out of my purse along with my passport. I finally reached the drop-off area where TSAE #4 (TSAE #2 and TSAE #3 gave directions along the way) showed me the conveyor belt for my bags and even added a gray plastic tub for my camera bag. Just as I was set to put my bags down, TSAE #5 directed me in a different direction and since what the two TSA employees were telling me was 180 degrees opposite, I literally stopped in place and looked back and fourth between both of them and said, “What do you want me to do?” I felt like a kid on the first day of school but the TSA employees treated the passengers like we were less experienced with the world than a kindergärtner. By now, I was quite annoyed.
Next up was the x-ray machine for carry on bags. I carefully lifted my camera and laptop out of my laptop bag and put them into a gray bin. TSAE#7 then asked me to separate the contents of that bin and then to remove my coat and shoes. I am pretty sure I did not hide my disgust. At this point, if anyone from airport security was monitoring my behavior by video, I would likely have been flagged for a full search.
It was time for what used to be just walking through the metal dectector. Somehow I was chosen for the line with the big white machine that looks like they perform a full body scan. Just before they started the scan, TSAE #10 asked me if I preferred a fully body search instead. I jumped on that opportunity and then had to wait for a female TSAE #11 to come out from behind closed doors and perform the very thorough full body search. First she asked if I was uncomfortable with a public search and would prefer to go to a room and I said I didn’t care about a public search. She felt me up in places I don’t believe a stranger has ever done. It was worse than walking through the Main Street Bistro on a Saturday night at 10pm.
Once that was over, I thought I was through the depths of TSA hell when I came back to find TSAE #8 and #12 telling me they needed to search every compartment of my bags.
By this point, if I would have allowed myself to vocalize what I was really thinking, TSAEs #8 and #12 would have heard a few f-bombs dropped. Luckily they were very cool guys, especially TSAE #12 AND I make it a point not to take out my frustrations with polices on the mere implementers. TSAE #12 and I joked the whole time he and #8 were searching literally every nook and cranny of my two remaining bags. I will chalk up the need for the search to the dirty looks being captured by airport security.
Forty-five minutes after I attempted to check into the flight, I finally made it through security and went in search of in-flight snacks. Seriously, what a pain in the ass. I will be curious to see if Andy deals with the same sorts of things on his way back from China.
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{ 2 comments }
Not that I’ve ever had to worry about carrying-on breast milk, but in the last couple years I feel like I’ve figured out a good system to traveling with my camera and any important things like that.
First I always carry a tote bag which usually doesn’t have a zipper on top, just open. Inside the tote goes the camera (without the lens attached because it’s awkward shaped and could potentially damage the camera if always attached and it frees up more space), lens, my wallet, chapstick, lotion, book, laptop and any other important electronics or things like that. It will all generally fit in the tote. That counts as my personal item because it’s small enough to carry all the important stuff without counting as extra.
Then in my “carry-on” will usually have an extra outfit (in case my luggage gets lost), my purse with the remaining items in them, sweater or jacket, and anything else that might not have fit in my checked luggage – usually shoes
Wow, what an ordeal… doesn’t exactly make me want to go jump on an out-of-country flight any time soon! ;-}
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