Is Peanut Butter a Solid… or Liquid?
This is a sticky situation that began with a podcaster named Patrick Neve heading to the airport in Pittsburgh for a flight. But after he removed his shoes and his belt… the TSA confiscated the jar of peanut butter in his carry-on.
The TSA agent to grabbed his jar of Jif and said “sorry … no liquids …gels or aerosols in your carry-on.
Patrick’s response… which of the things do you think peanut butter is?
So let’s consider this. Because 10 million people have now read Patrick's tweet… and the thread has become a national encounter group for the multitudes who feel they’ve been done wrong by those humorless TSA agents.
Ironically… the New York Times reports on Twitter… the TSA does a lot of funny… tongue in cheek tweeting to burnish its image. About the peanut butter… the agency tweeted “You may not be nuts about it - heh heh… but the TSA considers your Peanut Butter a liquid.
No surprise. This is the same government that declared the ketchup in kids’ meals a vegetable. But this interchange brought out thousands of people including a nurse who had her peanut butter confiscated. But they let the IV needles in the same bag go through without question.
The TSA definition of a liquid is a substance that takes on the shape of its container. If you can spill it, spread it, pump it, or pour it… the limit is 3-point-4 ounces. And they don’t keep your peanut butter... It gets tossed out. The TSA has a zero-tolerance policy about agents with sticky fingers.