Free Stock Tip: Buy Toothpaste

I left all my bottled water and hair gel at home before heading to the airport, but I didn't think to discard my toothpaste.  An alert airport security screener found my Arm & Hammer Baking Powder Toothpaste tube in my carry-on back and asked if I preferred to go back through securing and check it, or if I wished to discard it.  I avoid having checked baggage or re-entering security at all costs, so it was easy for me to make the choice to walk away from my oral hygiene product in the name of national security.

The new heightened security measures that apply to liquids, gels and creams apply to "other items of similar consistency" and as I have just discovered, that includes toothpaste.  Until air travelers become accustomed to the breadth and scope of carry-on items now under the ban, look for an upswing in toothpaste purchases in this quarter.  In fact, there should be an increase both in the personal and family sized sales of toothpaste, since travelers like me who must replace the tube they had intended to use while traveling probably will need to get another one to replace the contraband tube taken from home and surrendered at security.

Check with the TSA to see what else you should leave at home or stow below

Losing my toothpaste has been the least inconvenience on this trip thus far.  My flight to San Francisco from Albany via Pittsburg and Vegas was scheduled to leave at 6:35 a.m. this morning and has been scrapped because of an equipment malfunction.  The next available flight leaves at 12:40 p.m.  It was a good thing, in hindsight, that I had no checked baggage.  Blogging may be intermittent at best until I return this weekend.  I promise to find a way to brush my teeth in the meanwhile!

Comments

[Elizabeth Cull]

It also became a pain to me when I went to Israel last year. I left my favorite toothpaste at home, and in Israel there was nothing like it in the stores. I was forced to use a local toothpaste in the hotel, which was okay. But I still preferred my toothpaste. Although I understand the tight airport security procedure, I can still remember James Bond's plastic explosive hidden inside a tube of Crest.

[Laura]

Thanks for the stock tip and for doing your part to protect the homeland.

;-)