Here's my silly carry on story: several years ago, back before 9/11 and all that, we visited Tunisia (that's in north Africa, folks), for purely geeky purposes (ie, visiting Star Wars filming sites). I always look for silly collectibles in foreign countries, and this time, was rewarded with a ridiculous pink faux-Sailor Moon toy set, complete with a big scary mask of not-Usagi herself, and a hot pink Sailor gun. (It looked like a water gun, only eyeball-searing pink).
Anyway, of course I keep my toys in my carry on luggage (non-essentials, such as prescription meds and toothpaste are relegated to baggage). It was our last day, and we had somehow made it to the airport. The very last step before we boarded the plane to get the hell outta Tunis, you had to go through one last X-ray scan. I put my bag through without a second thought (plastic toys), but then as I was just passing the metal detector, I heard screams and commotion from the X-ray guys. It was the biggest Arab dude I'd ever seen. Of course, he'd seen a outline of a *pistol* on the scanner!! He called me back, and Gus and I were already smiling when he fished through my luggage to extract....a hot pink plastic Sailor Moon gun! I mumbled out some high school French in explanation ("C'est un jouet!"), but big tough Arab scanner dude was already shamefacedly shoving my toys back into my luggage and bidding the foreign devils to get the hell out of his country.
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Anyway, of course I keep my toys in my carry on luggage (non-essentials, such as prescription meds and toothpaste are relegated to baggage). It was our last day, and we had somehow made it to the airport. The very last step before we boarded the plane to get the hell outta Tunis, you had to go through one last X-ray scan. I put my bag through without a second thought (plastic toys), but then as I was just passing the metal detector, I heard screams and commotion from the X-ray guys. It was the biggest Arab dude I'd ever seen. Of course, he'd seen a outline of a *pistol* on the scanner!! He called me back, and Gus and I were already smiling when he fished through my luggage to extract....a hot pink plastic Sailor Moon gun! I mumbled out some high school French in explanation ("C'est un jouet!"), but big tough Arab scanner dude was already shamefacedly shoving my toys back into my luggage and bidding the foreign devils to get the hell out of his country.