Every time you think the TSA has hit rock-bottom, it manages to find yet another dung-filled sub-basement to wallow in. From the Orlando Sentinel:
John Gross remembers frantically trying to scoop up his grandfather's ashes and wondering why the Orlando TSA agent who spilled them was laughing.
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[H]e said a female Transportation Security Administration agent wearing blue latex gloves opened his bag, twisted open the jar labeled, "Human Remains," and accidentally spilled at least a quarter of its contents.
"It thought it was routine at first and then I thought, 'What the hell was she doing this for?'" Gross said Tuesday in a telephone interview with the Orlando Sentinel. "I got upset. She was laughing right at me — not a chuckle — she was laughing."
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Dropping to the floor after the spill, Gross said he reached for all the bigger pieces of remains but there was no way to collect everything without a dustpan and broom.
The TSA agent kept laughing without offering help, he said.
TSA policy expressly states that containers of cremated remains will be X-rayed but not opened under any circumstances. If the container can't be X-rayed (in this case it was just a glass jar, so that wouldn't have been an issue), then it won't be allowed through, but "under no circumstances" will they open it. Unless they do, apparently.
So, violated TSA policy, check. Unable to open glass jar without spilling contents, check. Mocked traumatized traveler instead of helping or apologizing, check. Pretty much standard procedure, then.
