The "Sunport smell"

Life, food, events, and community in Albuquerque, NM

Posted by Cyrus on May 16, 2008 at 11:54am

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Our Albuquerque airport has increased security measures to the point where nail-clippers and toothpaste are not allowed in carry on bags, but are we really safer?
On my last flight departing the Sun-port, I could not help but notice all the new security procedures. Waiting in line to receive my boarding pass, an airline employee informed me that I would not be allowed to carry any outside water bottles into the gate area. I reluctantly disposed of my half full bottle of water, ticket in hand.
As I made my way to the security bag screening area, I smelled something kinda off, something downright funky. Feet. The smell of stinky feet. “Sir please remove your shoes and pass them through the machine, it’s mandatory, “the airport security guard grunted in my general direction.
After passing through the metal detector barefoot, I imagined all the new ultra mutated hybrid super- fungi breeding in the thin corridor of carpet I just treaded over. My mind swirled with images of Al Qaeda athletes foot attacks, the likes of which have never been seen before.
Heading to my gate I was reminded by a slightly terse automated voice that the terror level had reached “orange” and I should keep an eye on my bag at all times. I looked at the person next to me suspiciously. Was he eyeing my bag? No offense buddy, but we are at orange level, you never know.
Have these new measures made us safer? Do you feel safer? Or just inconvenienced to the point of “terror”. Personally, I feel dehydrated, and I think my feet are starting to itch. Call homeland security, we better bump the terror level to red.

Comment by mombat on May 16, 2008 at 12:10pm: Reading this made both my head and feet itch and I had an olfactory flashback to walking through the men's dorm at UNM. I think I will go shower.

Comment by Jeremy Jojola on May 16, 2008 at 12:30pm: This is funny. Not long ago, I noticed the same thing. The TSA or somebody needs to get some air freshener or something that automatically sprays at foot level when you walk through the metal detector.

I would think after dealing with thousands of people everyday taking of their shoes, they would have done something like this.

Comment by Sarah Anonymous on May 16, 2008 at 12:30pm: I was stranded in the Guatemala city airport, at the gate, for a day about a year ago. Let me tell you- their security is waaaay lower tech, but much harsher. And its all because they are trying to get max "War on Drugs" $$. Paranoia sucks! But this does make me more tolerant of the relative slowness of ground travel.

Comment by Jesstagirl on May 16, 2008 at 12:43pm: These new procedures aren't really all that new. They let you take a water bottle through security, it just has to be empty (and trust me, filling it up after security from the water fountain is a heck of a lot cheaper than paying $2 for another bottle at a gift shop!). And when it comes to the stinky feet/fungus scare, just wear socks, or if you're wearing sandals/flip flops/heels, take socks in your carry on - planes are usually cold, so it's nice to warm up the feet!

Comment by Jennifer Jane on May 16, 2008 at 12:58pm: My last flight out of ABQ..the security is way too intense... I first followed the people in front of me, one a blond teenager with a hoodie on, the other a business man with a lap top briefcase- so I take off my vest (leave my hoodie on) put my purse in the bin (leave my laptop in there like the fucking dude in front of me) and I get asked to take off my hoodie (blondie didn't have to- checked by the same woman) and then asked to remove my lap top (business dude didn't have to). Then my earrings set off the alarm, so I put those in a bin, and was so flustered with my shoes, purse, jacket, hoodie and and now earrings in different bins, all scattered now... I completely forgot my earrings, got to my gate then remembered, run back right as they are about to throw them away. Maybe I look just a little too "ethnic" for their tastes.

I always think about the feet thing though. It's really gross.

Comment by Taos Mesa on May 16, 2008 at 1:36pm: The sad thing is that NONE of the "air cargo" that is loaded onto the plane is checked by TSA.

None.

Of course, Democrats will put a stop to that next year, but still...

No, my friends.

Taking off your shoes and confiscating water bottles and nail clippers is just to give you the illusion of security.

A terrorist could pull up in a rubber digny in Long Beach harbor, and blow up a "dirty bomb" and possibly explode nearby chemical plants that would kill millions of people.

The terror alerts are just to help Republicans win the election.

I predict there will be many terror "warnings" coming out of this administration before the Nov 08 election to help McSame win on his "strong" I-will-protect-you fear-mongering.

It works. If you scare people they will be attracted to someone they think will "protect" them...

Comment by JeSais on May 16, 2008 at 1:43pm: my theory is that is all just a test to see how much control they can exert over us. Take off your shoes, no liquids --even if I see you drinking it and you didn't explode-- food is ok, but not yogurt-- thats a gel or a liquid or a curd or something. Stay Seated. Keep you seat belt on. Don't play you ipod.

its all about control. we're no more or less safer. probably less since more people hate us now.

Comment by Jennifer Jane on May 16, 2008 at 1:50pm: My checked luggage has been inspected before. If they inspect it they leave you a note (how slutty).

Comment by Brandon Atencio on May 16, 2008 at 1:55pm: these "security measures" have very little relationship to reality, except of course to make sure that our realities are molded on a platform of fear, insecurity and paranoia of eachother and pretty much everything else in our comfy, miserable little lives. i've told myself i'm never going to fly again, an di hope i'm able to keep that promise. i took the train to california last month. sure, it took a lot longer, but it was much more comfortable, lots of leg room, and no invasive searching, armed guards, scowling security agents or anything of the sort. some of the passengers even made conversation and exchanged smiles and information with eachother. for a few hours there, i almost felt like a real person living in a real world with lots of other real people.

Comment by hettie on May 16, 2008 at 2:16pm: bruce schneier, the guy who coined the phrase "security theater" to describe the actions of the tsa at airport checkpoints, posted this about 5 years ago and I think it still rings true:

"The 9/11 Terrorists' Real Weapon

We all know that the new airline security procedures are silly. Baggage screeners taking away pocket knives and box cutters doesn't improve airline security, even after 9/11.

People who think otherwise don't understand what allowed the terrorists to take over four planes two years ago. It wasn't a small knife. It wasn't a box cutter. The critical weapon that the terrorists had was surprise. With surprise they could have taken the planes over with their bare hands. Without surprise they couldn't have taken the planes over, even if they had guns.

And surprise has been confiscated on all flights since 9/11. It doesn't matter what weapons any potential new hijackers have; the passengers will no longer allow them to take over airplanes. I don't believe that airplane hijacking is a thing of the past, but when the next plane gets taken over it will be because a group of hijackers figured out a clever new weapon that we haven't thought of, and not because they snuck some small pointy objects through security. "