With fans carrying back untold amounts of memorabilia, they never expected that their purchases would cause chaos at security.
On Monday, the day after Super Bowl XLIX, airport workers and TSA agents were gearing up for a long day — as were the hundreds of travelers planning to leave that day back to their fooball-less real worlds.
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However, no one would have ever predicted that each checked bag would set off alarms in the TSA system, requiring each and every one of them to be hand checked for dangerous devices.
The problem: holographic stickers on NFL memorabilia.
Apparently, these stickers cause the TSA’s machine to absolutely lose their minds and alert the agents that there might be something much more sinister in each bag rather than that Richard Sherman jersey you were going to burn.
Despite the airport urging all rental car agencies and airlines to warn passengers that their programs need to be carried with them in their carry-on, they didn’t account for the holographic sticker on every single piece of licensed material. This included hats, lanyards, sweaters, t-shirts, and other knick knacks that really weren’t even worth the trouble of bringing on the plane in the first place.
“It’s created total chaos for us, and this was already what they’re telling us is our busiest day ever,” told one US Airways employee to reporters at the Wall Street Journal.
Regardless, I think we can all be grateful that the TSA isn’t completely like the one from that episode of South Park.
[H/T: For The Win]
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