A Battle of Wits Averted
Scott Adams recounts having his 4 ounce bottle of shampoo confiscated at the airport because it exceeded the maximum 3 ounce allowance, even though the sign at the airport said it could be 4 ounces and there was only about an ounce left in the bottle anyway. The money quote:
For a fleeting moment I considered reasoning with the TSA guy. Surely he could see that the liquid part of my container was minimal. But one look in his eyes told me that thinking wasn’t his sport.
Discretion is, they say, the better part of valor.
As my wife always says, “is that the hill you want to die on?”
Large institutions, corporate or government, often discourage thinking in order to maintain objectivity in rules enforcement. Don’t blame the guy checking bags, he’s protecting his job.