A pilot, his silverware and TSA insanity

Salon writer Patrick Smith, a commercial airline pilot by trade, tells the maddening tale of trying to get through security with a fork, spoon and butter knife — the same silverware that is routinely issued to the passengers Smith shuttles about the globe. As you can imagine, Smith, wearing his uniform and identifying himself as a pilot, was able to easily convince the TSA checkpoint agents that his silverware posed no threat to the cockpit or flying public. … Uh, actually, it didn’t go that way at all.