travel rant: whomever came up with the 3oz rule is an idiot

it's been a few weeks since i've been on a plane...my last trip i had a bag big enough i needed to check anyway, so i paid no attention to the liquid restriction for myself -- although the warning signs were all over.

well, the tsa has 'loosened the restrictions' on liquids.  again, i have to ask the question of what research/tactic/preventative mechanism is now in place that makes the tsa confident that the problem is solved?  i worried when they first made the restriction that it would not be able to be revoked.  well, i stand corrected (sort of).  apparently there is a magic number of 3 ounces that makes it safe.  granted you can take AS MANY 3OZ ITEMS AS YOU WANT as long as they fit in a provided zip loc bag.  so, by the looks of the bag, i figured you could squeeze about 10 3oz containers in there (size varrying)...so 30 ounces of liquid.  now is that too much?  we'll never know because it is allowed.

the 3oz restriction is lame.  i understand the situation, and i can appreciate being safe...heck i'm not saying i don't want to be safe, but let's put some thought into this.  reducing the amount of liquid to a specific size, but not the overall amount is dumb, just dumb.  i mean, i'm not going to go through the scenarios, but i'm sure you could imagine it just doesn't make sense -- you should either allow them or not.

and if you do have the restrictions, empower the tsa to put some thought into it.  i had my deodorant...it is gel.  so i decided to get one of those plastic bags for me deo, contact lens solution, toothpaste, etc.  the tsa rep looked at my deodorant and said that it is not allowed (the container read 4oz).  i was quick to point out that clearly it was half way gone.  his response: "we can't measure items."  my interpretation: we're not being empowerd to look at a full container and determine that it is half gone and do the math.

that, my friends, is idiotic.