Looking for Leatherman

Best friend for an Event Manager

I just read the good news that the TSA is going to allow certain kinds of knives back on planes.  Unfortunately, the states of Michigan and Massachusetts are not playing, since it is still a felony to do so.

A few years ago, the TSA took away my Mini Leatherman.  I was a random flag at security and my bag was searched. The agent was so proud that she came upon my 2.5-inch Mini Leatherman that she created a freak show around me. A crowd of agents surrounded me and held it up in the air to make an example of me and my 2.5-inch Mini Leatherman.  I must have made their day.  Thankfully, an unimpressed gentleman behind me must have felt my pain because he walked by sarcastically exclaiming “WWWWWOW”.

You see, I am an Fundraising Events Consultant and I was traveling to do some good, charitable work.  I need my Mini Leatherman to cut duct tape, snip electrical ties (also known as concert cuffs – a story for another time), pull staples out of wood, pluck a stray eyebrow hair, open locked porta-pottie doors etc…

I realize it was only $26 but it was really petite and a perfect size to carry in my purse and pocket.  I miss it and want it back.

When I was given the choice to go back and check the leatherman in my luggage, I couldn’t, since I was carrying-on.  Then I was given the choice to leave the security line and go mail the piece back home.  WTF?  I did not notice any USPS kiosks in our Terminal.   So, I was resigned to turning over my beloved Mini Leatherman to be included in the TSA-Holiday-Party-Yankee-Swap-of-Confiscated-Items.  Mutha Fucka.   I was told that they destroy all confiscated items.  Riiiiiight.  I felt naked and vulnerable without it. It was my wooby.

I loved the Mini so much that I bought one for all my staff one year as a holiday gift.  I learned to love the versatility of the Leatherman when my Dear Boss David at the Walk for Hunger (Wok FaHunga if you live in Boston) gave me one.  It was a long time ago and I still have it.

Everyday Essential

So now, I ask the TSA peeps:  Let’s get everyone on the same page so us event folk can carry our Mini Leathermans onto planes so we can be prepared for our next adventure.  Puhleez!

One last thing.  I was pleased to read that the TSA is relaxing the rules for small bats. Not for me, but for the passengers at the Louisville Airport that got their mini Louisville Slugger bat taken away. I was shocked to see that they actually displayed a large cylinder full of these bats at the beginning of the security line.  Perhaps the Louisville Slugger store inside the Louisville airport should have had a USPS kiosk just outside.  Ugh.