This happened the end of last week, getting from London to Berlin. It is a story about me, a knife, Stansted airport and mugshots.
The camping lock knife which my husband has had for ten years in Canada is legal to have it in countries like Ireland, Canada, Spain, France, etc. It was in my carry-on going through Stansted airport in London (we had used it earlier in the day to cut BAGUETTE and CHEESE on the train) but forgot to remove it from my carry-on bag. I realized before going through security so, I had two options. 1) throwing it in the garbage suspiciously and dangerously and 2) handing it in upon arriving in check-out.
Being the responsible person I am, I approached the security officer, handed the thing to him, and said "I forgot I had this item in my bag but I am aware you will have to confiscate it before flying. Here you go." The problem is that the particular type of knife we own locks open, and this is apparently illegal to have in the UK. I had to go over to the security desk with a chaperone, where I had to wait for police officers to come and take my statement. And mugshot. And fingerprints. And palm prints. And DNA samples.
Apparently it happens every day (because in all other countries they are legal to carry) and the caution will only be a problem if I ever get caught in the UK with a weapon (it could be brought up in court) but all in all it was a horrible experience.
I asked at the desk what would have happened had I just thrown the thing out before security. The answer? "nothing, you would have gone through no problem." You're kidding me, right? Fucking English. I tried not to cry.
No comments:
Post a Comment