'I removed everything from my bag': Employee gets even with screening officer at company security checkpoint after being told twice to ‘empty’ his bag, rest of employees follow his lead

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Jun 10, 2023 6:00 PM EDT

Oftentimes, in transportation facilities, there will be a legal requirement to go through a security checkpoint that inspects bags; employees will need to go through a metal detector. In order to do that, they will need to remove any electronics/wires from their bags. OP was a technician working for a company that required him to pass through such a checkpoint on a daily basis. He carried a laptop, hand tools, and network cables in his bag, and was told he could leave hand tools and such in his bag, but would need to remove the wires and electronics.

One day when going through his usual ritual, the employees working at the security checkpoint weren't paying attention when he was removing said items from his bag, leading to some confusion on their part. One employee, who we will call Karen, remembered she was actually on duty, and told OP that everything he had just put back in his bag had to come out again for inspection. He explained that he had already done what they'd asked of him, but Karen was adamant that he 'take everything out of the bag'.

OP told her that if she'd been paying attention, she'd know there was no need. Again, she demanded he empty the bag… so he did. Other employees in line saw what was happening and decided to follow suit. Soon enough, everyone was taking everything out of their bags, and Karen was bombarded with much more work than usual. Scroll down to read how the story played out.

For more, here are some coworker memes for employees working overtime due to wages moving at a snail's pace.

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  • 01
    Font - Posted by u/jumbofrimpf 23 hours ago 2 Empty everything from my bag? You got it! M OC
    via u/jumbofrimpf
  • 02
    Font - I work in a transportation facility which requires me to go through a security checkpoint that inspects bags and such and you have to go through a metal detector. They require us to remove any electronics or wires from our bags. Since I'm a technician, I carry a laptop and network cables in my bag plus some small hand tools. I was told I can leave the hand tools in the bag but
    via u/jumbofrimpf
  • 03
    Font - the wires and electronic have to be taken out. Fine. So I've been doing this for months... until yesterday. I go through as usual, unpacking my bag of the required items and putting them in the bin and send it through. I send my bag afterwards. Xray says nothing so I start reloading my bag.
    via u/jumbofrimpf
  • 04
    Font - This is when xray stops talking to her coworker friends and realizes she has to work. They start going through my bag, pulling out everything I just put back in telling me "This is supposed to come out and go in a bin." I did. You weren't paying attention.
    via u/jumbofrimpf
  • 05
    Font - Xray then proceeds to tell me "anything metal has to come out... everything has to come out." Fine. Today rolls around and the same person is running xray. So I take all of my usual stuff out of my bag and put it in a bin. Then I start removing everything from my bag. Tissue pack? Check. Quick wipes? Check.
    via u/jumbofrimpf
  • 06
    Font - Pens? Check. Candy wrapper from three days ago? Check.... you get the point. Every... single... item... I pulled from my bag. Meanwhile xray is getting testy and a line is forming behind me. Xray tells me I'm holding up the line. Sorry, you said EVERYTHING.
    via u/jumbofrimpf
  • 07
    Font - After my bins and empty bag go through the xray and come out, I begin to repack everything while watching the line behind me. A guy is now doing the same thing I just did... pulling everything from his bag. "You did tell that guy everything. I don't want to get in trouble..." The next guy behind him started doing it as well.
    via u/jumbofrimpf
  • 08
    Font - As I set my bag on the floor and began to walk away, I turned to xray and said "You did say everything. Have a nice day!" And left. I think I might go back through after lunch....
    via u/jumbofrimpf
  • 09
    Font - Clarification: this is a security checkpoint for employees of this transportation facility. It's a private security company and not any government transportation security... though most of them act like they work for the government.
    via u/jumbofrimpf
  • 10
    Font - Saltygcd 23 hr. ago You may need to go to the coffee shop at about 10:00 too... Vote Reply Share KnightOfTerra · 22 hr. ago And 3pm... Vote Reply Share
    via u/Saltygcd, u/KnightOfTerra
  • 11
    Font - BornOnFeb2nd +1 - 13 hr. ago I remember coming back from a business trip in the UK. Had a backpack just chock full of electronics, wires, my laptop, the works. Got through Heathrow security without any drama, landed in O'Hare, and their fɩ kin' layout mean going from International to Domestic I had to cross through unsecured areas. I just got off a 10hr flight from London,
    via u/BornOnFeb2nd
  • 12
    Font - wandering through the TSA line, and forgot to remove my laptop (Heathrow didn't give a fi k). TSA Goon was all smug and said "Looks like we've got a volunteer!". I just looked at him and went "I just got off a plane from London, but if you want to go through that bag, be my guest!" He opened it up, took one look at the quantity of devices he'd have to check, and just closed it back up.
    via u/BornOnFeb2nd
  • 13
    Font - Fuck the TSA. Rather than the people flying paying the cost of airport "security", every taxypayer pays into it? Isn't that just corporate welfare for the airlines? Vote Reply Share
    via u/BornOnFeb2nd
  • 14
    Font - TheCockford Ollie 23 hr. ago AND got the sheeple to auto commit, this is MC at its finest. Fin Legend. Reply Share Vote ieLgneB 22 hr. ago Sheeple? nah they saw an obvious way to prolong the MC and committed Vote Reply Share
    via u/TheCockfordOllie, u/ieLgneB
  • 15
    Font - angmarsilar +2 20 hr. ago I'm a scuba diver and I carry my regulators in a carry on. I go through TSA in West Virginia, hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean. The agent sees it on xray, looks at me and asks, "Scuba regulators?" and that was it. Very same trip, go through security in Miami, hundreds of yards from the ocean, and they make me unload everything just to train a new security guard. Vote Reply Share
    via uangmarsilar
  • 16
    Font - . 16 hr. ago I feel ya. I have TSA precheck and like 90% of the time? Zero problems. Just shove it all in my electronics bag, go through and they say have a nice day. 10% of the time? They don't do precheck at all and then it's a nightmare. Company pays for Precheck so precheck it is. Reply Share JOHi Vote
    via u/JOHi
  • 17
    Font - SuspiciousGrievances 13 hr. ago If they give me too much of a hard time, I might just be tempted turn off all their machines with my magic IT powers, until they relent, bowing profusely, showing me the courtesy, a person of my station demands. "I have scripts at the ready and I'll use them if you test me lad!" Vote Reply Share
    via u/SuspiciousGrievances
  • 18
    Font - Grabbsy2 Man... I'm a security guard... youre messing with the wrong link in the chain. 21 hr. ago edited 18 hr. ago - I have a camera over my shoulder. Every so often I get a call from some supervisor in a head office halfway across the country "Why didn't you check their bag more throughly, the sensors went off, this is unacceptable!"
    via u/Grabbsy2
  • 19
    Font - Meanwhile the person I'm dealing with is an airplane technician that comes in every day with tools, just as you say. The rules are strict, and I don't make them. If management is breathing down my neck, I can't let shit slide, because if they remove me for not doing my job, theyre just going to hire someone who
    via u/Grabbsy2
  • 20
    Font - job at all, and some nutjob convinced by the internet that planes are vaccinating the globe with 5G chemtrails decides to get himself onto the tarmac and do whatever it is they want to do. (or just drive right into Toronto International Airport and steal 20 million in gold, which happened a month or two ago) Vote Reply Share ...
    via u/Grabbsy2
  • 21
    Font - +1 16 hr. ago youre messing with the wrong link in the chain. Moleculor How do you know that link in the chain isn't just maliciously complying? Oh. Right. They whined when he complied. If the link is whining about the hold- up, they clearly realize there's a faster way to accomplish the task.
    via u/Moleculor
  • 22
    Font - What's the faster way? It's probably not removing all the stuff from the bag. So they should probably avoid instructing people to remove all the stuff from the bag. If they have to instruct everyone to remove all the stuff from their bags, then they should strap in and prepare for slower lines. No whining allowed.
    via u/Moleculor
  • 23
    Font - In addition... what do you propose as an alternative? He was told to remove everything from his bag. If he doesn't... they just do it for him and slow things down even more, as demonstrated. Vote Reply Share
    via u/Moleculor

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Tags

workplace-stories bag-check malicious compliance coworkers security-checkpoint electronics karen-employee petty revenge baggage check technician transportation-facility payback
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