A few months ago, I flew from the Minneapolis airport (MSP) to San Francisco (SFO) with my two young kids and my sister to help. We had a stroller, six carry-ons that included a diaper bag, laptop and breast pump not to mention baby food and breast milk. No one wanted to wait in line behind us near security because they knew, as well as us, that it would be time-consuming to have all our stuff go through the conveyer belt.
I’m hyper-conscious, especially when it comes to travel. While we may appear crazy and disorganized with so much mismatched stuff, when it comes to things that I need to take out of my bag, I’m pretty organized. I pulled out all the liquids, including six pouches of new baby food and 4 bottles of breast milk. The baby food was unopened and in a bag that included an ice pack. I didn’t think I would have a problem with anything because I had brought the same baby food pouches and breast milk on the trip to Minneapolis without a hitch. The thing I worried most was getting an Elmo ice pack that my daughter had become attached to. I didn’t want the Elmo ice pack to get confiscated – my daughter carried it everywhere and if Elmo wasn’t around, she asked for it until Elmo was found. I tucked it the ice pack in my daughter’s Dora the Explorer backpack which I stuck in my carry-on.
I explained all the liquids to the Transportation Security Authorities (TSA) people and just expected someone to test the milk to make sure it wasn’t explosive. As we broke down the stroller and put our bags one by one on the conveyer belt, a TSA officer waved me down.
As I started to put the carrier so I could hold onto the baby, the TSA officer waved me over and told me not to put the carrier on. Meanwhile, my daughter had started to get restless and was wandering around as my sister had just put her baggage through the X-ray machine.
“This baby food exceeds the 3 ounce limitation,” she said. “ You will either have to let me open all of the baby food or I have to give you a patdown and go through your bags.”
I told the TSA officer that if she opened them up they would all be ruined. Then I told her that I’ve been traveling with baby pouch food for years and have never been required to stop.
I let her pat me down – good thing my sister was with me – how else could I have been given a patdown with an 8-month-old and toddler? Then the TSA officer proceeded to dig through my bag, which was fine, but I knew somewhere in that bag was a dirty diaper.
I wondered if someone who was more suspicious, more incriminating than a mother bogged down with baby stuff was breezing through the security right now without any scrutiny. Why would a haggard mother with baby toys and a breast pump board carry baby food that could be a threat? If I were a terrorist or displayed any suspicious activity, would I have blatantly shown my baby food and breast milk? No, I would not be forthcoming of anything.
As the TSA officer looked through my carry-on (I was disappointed she missed the dirty diaper), I spotted my daughter’s Dora the explorer backpack where the Elmo ice pack was. I was hoping she wouldn’t open the backpack, but sure enough she did. As she examined Elmo and pushed and prodded his face, I braced for the worse.
The TSA officer put Elmo back in the backpack and zipped it up. “You’re all done,” she said.
As my sister, the two kids, stroller, six carry-ons, Elmo and I walked through the airport, my sister told me that she too had baby food pouches, liquids, and gel products and wasn’t questioned.
“I always forget to bring out my liquids,” she said. “But if you bring your stuff out, they have to examine it. That’s protocol.”
–Eunice Park
poche de maman 