Times of the Islands Spring 2021

Other homeowners on North and Middle Caicos
understand completely: We all bring weird stuff with us
to the Islands. Aware of what we might not find on the
outer islands and often unable or unwilling to shop in
Providenciales on our way to the ferry, we schlep it along
. . . plumbing connections, art supplies, specialized tools
and kitchen utensils, favorite foods, car parts and more.
I often bring construction glue, grout and glass mosaic
tiles, all of which apparently look suspicious on x-ray
(thus the inspections).
And then there are the TSA checkpoints scrutinizing
carry-on luggage. These are particularly vexing for
North and Middle Caicos folk, not because we’re trying to
break the rules, but for other various reasons: brain blips
during packing, innocent ignorance, simple forgetfulness
and (not least) the confusing capriciousness of TSA itself.
All lead to bewildering confiscations, comic explanations
and a never-fail conversation starter at island gatherings.
Death by butter
For Joe and Denise Ashcraft, an attempt at keeping to
the allowable weight in their checked bag led to a loss
of flatware. Even though Joe had researched whether
their set would be allowed in his backpack (and was told
yes, as long as the table knives were rounded and blunt
instead of sharp), there was a butter-knife bung-up. The
line agent at the TSA checkpoint was inclined to allow the
knives, but her supervisor said no. “The people aboard
our plane will be happy to know that they have been
saved from being buttered,” Denise commented later in
a Facebook post.
The post brought out others who have had items confiscated,
along with tales of some of the exchanges and
explanations. When TSA took some drill bits from Howard
Bartels of Major Hill, he was told that with them he might
be able to disassemble the plane. Of course, without the
drill itself, it would take a very long time to do any sort
of damage during a flight, even if that was intended!
Other drill bits have been taken from Nestor and Dina
Fernandez and me, though with less amusement.
Joe and Denise Ashcraft bought a set of table utensils from Target, intending them for their North Caicos home. The knives were confiscated
by TSA, even though Joe had been told that rounded butter knives were allowable in carry-on luggage.
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