I pay the rent by filling vending machines. One of the accounts that I
service is the TSA break room at the airport in Buffalo, New York.
Seeing that this topic has generated so much conversation I asked a few
of the TSA workers about bringing a shakuhachi as a carry on. There
just happened to be a supervisor in the break room at the time and
everyone was in agreement: musical instruments are ok to bring as a
carry on. No problem.
None of them were familiar with shakuhachi, but several of them cited
instances where they had let guitars through etc., and other instances
where they were frexible with the situation.
And I think that flexibility is the key here to their view. They see
hundreds of people in many different situations every day. They also
are very aware of the fact that they are asking people to be subjected
to inconveniences. They try to do this in such a way to minimize that
inconvenience. But if someone makes the situation more difficult, that
flexibility can work the other way also. They will stick to the rules
and guidelines layed out by Homeland Security (their parent company if
you will), but they can lose patience.
The example that Kyosei gave of resolving a situation by directing the
officers in how to unwrap his shakuhachi is a good example of TSA's
willingness to be flexible.
I was left with the impression that they would expect very few
shakuhachis to be questioned, and if you find yourself in a potentally
bad situation, talk to the officers about it, try to find options that
will work for both of you.
Paul
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