Jaunted

Lucky me -- I traveled home from a business trip on the first day of Memorial Day weekend. I went through RDU, where the 'greeter' to the security checkpoint looped through all the prohibited items and offered free Ziploc bags to anyone -- as long as they first showed her what they planned to put in the bags.

A sneaky traveler must have tried to get through with peanut butter, because the 'greeter' shouted to the group, "No peanut butter! I know I haven't said this one in a while, but no peanut butter!" Then I heard her advise the traveler that she was welcome to "stand there at the table and consume it."

A few seconds later, a guy held up a bag of nuts. "Those are OK," the 'greeter' told him.

So you can take peanuts, but be careful not to grind them up.

Actually, it would have been OK for the traveler to keep up to 3 ounces of her peanut butter. But what about Jello-O? Gummi bears? Marshmallows?

Food is OK. Gel is not OK. What about jelly foods?

Apparently I wasn't the only person 'confounded' by the rules this past weekend. The TSA's 3-1-1 campaign is great for reinforcing the basic rules -- 3 ounces, 1-quart bag, 1 bag per traveler -- but useless for spelling out what constitutes a gel for TSA purposes. Fortunately, the agency also publishes a detailed handout on what, and how much of it, you can have in your carry-on and checked baggage.

[Photo: lianza]