Blunt instrument
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When I was going through the TSA checkpoint in Philadelphia at the beginning of this run down the Mississippi, something very unfortunate happened. The TSA agent who was going through my carry-on belongings approached me and said, "Is this your stick?" "Yes, sir," I replied.
"I have a problem with your stick," he said.
"What's wrong with it?", I asked him.
"It's a blunt instrument."
"It's my walking stick," I said.
"You can't fly with this stick," he insisted. "It's a blunt instrument."
"But, sir, I've flown with it dozens of times, often right through Philadelphia, through this very checkpoint."
"Well, I'm telling you it's a blunt instrument, and I have an issue with it. You can't fly with this stick." he said, glaring at me with hostility.
"Let me speak to your supervisor."
Whereupon he took me to the platform at the end of the line.
I repeated the whole story about how I'd been through that very checkpoint with the same walking stick many times. I told the supervisor that the stick had great sentimental value for me, since I had run thousands of miles with it, and I really did need it for balance and traction, also to protect myself from angry dogs and during other dangerous situations, especially in remote and isolated places.
The supervisor looked a little uncomfortable, but knew she had to support her agent's assertion. Half-a-dozen other TSA agents who were standing nearby witnessing what was going on also looked sympathetic.
In the end, they confiscated my beloved walking stick. I felt as though a part of my soul had been torn away.
Looking back on what happened that day, it was very much a matter of definition and subjectivity. The TSA agent subjectively defined my walking stick as a blunt instrument. End of discussion.
BACKGROUND
During the first half of my transcontinental run (spread out over 2019-2024), when I never flew anywhere, I always carried the precious walking stick that I found on Mount Hiei outside Kyoto in Japan. It is about 7/8 inches in diameter and 4 feet long. It is from some special kind of tree that is light but strong as iron. It has a unique wabi-sabi esthetic quality and was probably used for many years by the person who lost it on Mt. Hiei (the tough bark — slightly peeling off and worm-eaten in places — glistened from human skin oils in a very subtle and attractibe way).
When I started flying to the beginning point of sections of my crosscountry route during the second half of my crosscountry run (from Omaha onward), I dared not risk having my Mt. Hiei stick confiscated, so I bought a backup stick at Menards (home improvement store like Home Depot and Lowe's). It was a 3/4 inch dowel made of Wisconsin oak. It was a beautiful piece of wood, with appealing grain and pinkish / light salmon color. As I did with the Mt. Hiei stick, I wrapped red and green fluorescent reflective velcro bands around the top and bottom. That was the stick I finished my transcontinental run with at Astoria, Oregon (roughly following the Lewis and Clark trail during the last part). It meant much to me, and I will miss it dearly, an arborean companion for years and miles.
AFTERWORD
On September 12, 2001, I flew from Philadelphia to Laramie, Wyoming to deliver a lecture at the University there. I was carrying a 6+ foot long, 2 inch diameter pole. Aside from the skeleton crew, I was the only person on the big jet plane. Nobody stopped me. Instead, they seemed to respect me doing so. When I transferred at Denver, I don't recall seeing any other people in the cavernous airport. It was eerie to walk all alone to the gate where the small plane was waiting to take me to Laramie.
TSA began on November 19, 2001.
Selected readings
- "Terrorism and the magical power of words" (8/31/06)
- "Fact v. Assertion" (10/23/11)
Lucas Christopoulos said,
June 19, 2025 @ 6:21 am
What a strange country. They let cowboys with their guns in supermarkets, but confiscate pilgrims' staffs from travellers' cars…The walking stick is almost a part of oneself. At the Rokko Mountains in Hyogo, I made two that I have kept for fifteen years. A long Japanese ash Tree (Fraxinus lanuginosa – アオダモ- 梣) against wild boars and bears, and for the practice of Gansu 棍法, and a Magnolia (木蘭) cane for walking.
Philip Taylor said,
June 19, 2025 @ 6:40 am
Forgive me, please, if I don’t address the issue of the theft of your belovèd stick, but I am intrigued by the fact that on more than one occasion you addressed the TSA agent as "Sir". Whilst we do not have a TSA in this country (as far as I am aware), I cannot think of any situation in which I would address an analogous person as "Sir". I frequently address hotel guests as "Sir", to indicate respect, but apart from addressing the judge (or a barrister) as "Sir" during a court appearance, I would not normally consider "Sir" to be either required or appropriate. May I ask if you would similarly address a police officer as "Sir" if you were stopped for an alleged traffic offence ? I ask because (a) I would not, and (b) I have seen several YouTube videos in which an American driver addresses a police officer as "Sir".
But to return to your sad loss — I empathise. I once had a belovèd pair of surgical scissors confiscated prior to boarding, and have never since found a comparable pair with which to replace them.
David Morris said,
June 19, 2025 @ 7:26 am
What if it had been a medical walking stick?
Michael Vnuk said,
June 19, 2025 @ 8:13 am
In the 1990s, I was flying from one Asian country via another back to Australia. When I went to board the plane after the transit stop at the second Asian airport, security complained about a sharp knife that I had in my hand luggage. It was a knife for cutting fruit that I had forgotten to pack in my larger suitcase that went in the aircraft's cargo hold. (I don't know why security didn't detect it in my hand luggage at the first airport. I'm pretty sure that they had X-ray machines there.) Although security wouldn't let me take the knife on the second plane, they packaged it up and I was able to collect it from a desk soon after my plane arrived in Australia.
So, when Victor had his stick 'confiscated', I was expecting to hear that it travelled on the same plane separately, like my knife. However, when I read on, I found that the stick was not temporarily confiscated (ie available for collection at some other time when not travelling by plane), but permanently confiscated and never seen again, which doesn't seem fair. Especially because the stick had never been confiscated before.
David Marjanović said,
June 19, 2025 @ 8:55 am
American police are all armed, they get very little training, and the advocates for letting everyone carry firearms everywhere never tire of reminding people that "an armed society is a polite society"…
Philip Taylor said,
June 19, 2025 @ 9:49 am
"an armed society is a polite society" — Hmmm… "No comment" is the only comment that I can make. But to return to my original point, I would have expected the TSA agent, police officer, etc., to address the passenger/driver/etc. as "Sir" rather than vice versa.
Circeus said,
June 19, 2025 @ 10:11 am
> American police are all armed, they get very little training, and the advocates for letting everyone carry firearms everywhere never tire of reminding people that "an armed society is a polite society"…
Except TSA are not law enforcement. Which is also certainly why he was not addressing them as "officer".
Charles in Toronto said,
June 19, 2025 @ 10:29 am
In general, American officials who have enough power to ruin your day/week/life can often turn out to be very hot-headed and have fragile egos that require soothing. The "Sir" is because you don't want them to decide you are rude and then screw you over.
Dave said,
June 19, 2025 @ 10:54 am
Couldn't you have it mailed back to yourself?
Miles Archer said,
June 19, 2025 @ 11:08 am
I used to fly a lot, domestically and internationally. One time, I'm returning to the US via Heathrow and there was security set up before you could even check in. The security man looked like an experienced bloke who was well chosen for his post.
He asked the usual questions include "do you have any weapons or anything that could be used as a weapon". I started to answer that anything could be used as a weapon and he gave be a subtle shake of the head and I quickly amended my answer to a simple "no".
David said,
June 19, 2025 @ 11:19 am
Are you sure your lonely flight wasn't September 13? My recollection is that commercial air travel didn't resume until the 13th. I had a flight canceled on the 12th myself.
I hope you are able to arrange to get your stick back.
Chas Belov said,
June 19, 2025 @ 3:15 pm
@Philip Taylor:
(Side note: Every time I need to type the name Philip/Phillip, including this one, I have to go back and ensure I have counted the right number of Ls. It doesn't help that they are surrounded by i's – and urk, technically i plural is "is" and not "i's" but I fear I need to type "i's" to make it unambiguous that it is not the word "is" – which makes the L-counting job much harder.)
I try to be egalitarian, so if someone sirs me, I tend to sir or madam them back as best I can. In this day of nonbinary identities, I do worry about accidentally misgendering them, but they did, after all, take the risk of misgendering me when they sirred me – they didn't misgender me, I identify as male, but it was a risk – so I can take the same risk back and be open to being corrected.
However, if they have not sirred me first, I tend to null address.
arthur said,
June 19, 2025 @ 3:45 pm
The event described in your Afterward did not take place on September 12 2001. Airspace was closed, and all non-military flights in the U.S. were cancelled, around 9 a.m. on the 11th, and remained closed until the 13th.
stephen said,
June 19, 2025 @ 4:29 pm
I asked ChatGPT about this and got this information
TSA auctions confiscated property through the General Services Administration (GSA) at:
govdeals.com
gsaauctions.gov
So maybe you can get it back; you could consult within an attorney. My condolences and good luck with it.