gemini wrote:If you air travel, and you decide to protest or resist the TSA morons from looking through your wallet...... please post your entire experience.
I'm sure
you'll be able to reason with them using common sense.
You can't reason with that which cannot understand reason... (half
, half
)
More to the point, there are two ways out of this. First, I could just say "no", and see where things go from there (and claim I was following Nancy Reagan's advice). I suppose it's an option, and I might go that route if I've got enough time before my flight leaves, but I really don't want to make that kind of scene.
The second option is to not have a wallet for them to go through. While I'm
theoretically required to show a government-issued photo ID, there's nothing requiring a passenger to have their wallet on them. I could either check it, or not bring my wallet at all. Checking my wallet is undesirable, since they could just pull my bags and paw through them, thus defeating the purpose. So I'm left with not bringing it at all. Let's see... I generally don't need to drive where I go because I usually just travel to visit family, so somebody will be there to pick me up and drive me around. I probably will need to buy stuff, though. I could bring my credit card, but that's a walletish thing to have, so maybe I'll just go to one of my bank's branches after I arrive, withdraw some cash, and deposit whatever I didn't spend before I leave to fly back (I need to make sure that my bank doesn't require an ATM card to make withdrawals or deposits, because at that point I'd rather bring my credit card). I certainly don't need my range membership card while I'm in CA, so no need for that. Nor do I need my employee ID card. Really, I only need some form of government-issued photo ID in case I need to prove my identity to law enforcement. Or do I even need that? I have a strong aversion to breaking the law (as does everyone in my immediate family), so I won't need to show it for anything I've done (especially since I won't be driving). Can they really require me to show ID if I'm just a passenger in a wreck, or the victim in a mugging? I don't know. Anyway, assuming that the guy at
Looking Glass News is wrong, though, I will need ID to get on the plane. My CHL is smaller and lighter than my passport, and compared to my DL it's less of a hassle to replace if stolen because I'd still be able to drive to work (and CC in my car under the MPA) while waiting for the replacement to come in.
You know, now that I've thought about it, going wallet-less doesn't seem like much of an inconvenience at all. I might start skipping it on trips to visit my family anyway, just because it's one less thing to lose or leave behind. (Yes, I realize that not having goons threaten to go through your papers in the first place is preferable, but I don't think they'll give it up any time soon.)
I am not a lawyer, nor have I played one on TV, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, nor should anything I say be taken as legal advice. If it is important that any information be accurate, do not use me as the only source.