Reply #6: My Mom (87 years old and in a wheelchair) returned to Florida on

[sinkingfeeling]

Saturday. It took us approximately one hour to get through security at NW Arkansas' tiny airport. First, they decided my mother looked like a Muslim terrorist, so pulled her little carry-on bag and purse off the conveyor belt to be hand checked. She had a smaller cosmetic bag in her case, filled with about 3 dozen prescription medicines....they had to look at each one and read the label. She had two of her prescription eye drops in her purse because she needed to have them within an hour of check-in. The first 'security' guard took them and said they had to be 'tossed'. I said, the TSA said that prescription medicine could be taken on board. He said he'd ask the TSA supervisor and after ten minutes brought them back. Just getting my mom through the metal-detector without her cane or wheel chair took probably five minutes. Then the shoe thing. Then they 'wanded' everything in her purse and carry-on bag. I'd removed the two or three liquid/gel items she brought with her and boxed them, along with some some food items for my sister, and we had checked the box through.

Of course, the box was 'lost baggage', but they did find it and she got it delivered to her home on Sunday. I had a pass to get her to the loading gate (thought that used to be a service of the airlines), but hadn't thought about the fact I had 3 lighters in my purse! Talked the TSA supervisor into holding them until I came back through after depositing my mom at the gate. Funny, the TSA inspectors only found 2 of the 3 lighters!