Checkpoint Vodka

So, you get all the way to the airport. You wait in line to find a parking spot. You wait in line at your airline check in desk. You wait in line to drop off your checked bags at the security station. You wait in line at the next security check point before getting to your gate. Your patience is wearing thin, because you just want to get to your gate.

As you're waiting in line with the other million people who are waiting to get through, you see a sign that says this: "The following liquid materials are prohibited and cannot pass through this checkpoint." What? Who made up all these silly rules? What else am I not allowed to bring on the plane?

"Let's see," you tell yourself. "Let's see what's in my carry-on bag that may get me in trouble." Hmmmm.... Vodka? In my bag? Who put it there? Did I actually put that in there in my rush to get out of the house this morning? Well, I can't bring it on the plane. What to do? Here's an Associated Press story about a guy did at a Berlin airport.....

Berlin - A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing two pints of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new rules about carrying liquids aboard a plane, police said Wednesday. The incident occurred Tuesday at the Nuremberg airport, where the 64-year-old man was switching planes on his way home to Dresden from a vacation in Egypt.

New airport rules prohibit passengers from carrying larger quantities of liquid onto planes, and he was told at a security check he would have to either throw out the bottle of vodka or pay a fee to have his carry-on bag checked. Instead, he chugged the vodka — and was quickly unable to stand or otherwise function, police said.

A doctor called to the scene determined he had possibly life-threatening alcohol poisoning, and he was sent to a Nuremberg clinic for treatment. The man, whose name was not released, is expected to be able to go home in a few days.