Julio’s security check

I have been through so many security checks in the last two months because I traveled so much that I believe it will take me a while before I can laugh at security jokes again. The weird thing is that either my wife or I will get pulled aside for a “random” check every single time without fail. I am chalking it up to the fact that this is no coincidence but rather because I openly and often make fun of TSA fails through Chicken Wings. I bet I’m flagged for that.

The other day, my friend Earl had a 7.125-inch-long crescent wrench taken away from him going through security. Mind you, he travels every 12 days like me and thus far hasn’t had any issues. But they must have stepped up security in Phoenix that day. He was told that you can only take a crescent wrench with you if it was shorter than 7 inches. He asked the agent if they both couldn’t just agree on this wrench being 7” long. After all, they were just talking about an 1/8 of an inch (that’s barely over 3mm), but the very conscientious agent stood firm. When Earl asked him why they insisted on exactly 7 inches, the TSA agent told him the reason was that you could disassemble a plane in flight with a wrench longer than seven inches. You can’t make this up! This is Chicken Wings Gold!

We are now assuming somebody must have tested this theory and the result was that with a wrench shorter than 7 inches you can’t take a plane apart in flight, yet if you go just an eighth of an inch longer than that, you will be able to. Maybe they even calculated a fudge factor into it – who knows?!

See? I just can’t help myself. But these stories must be told, HAHA! I’m sure this wasn’t helping my cause with the TSA.
There is actually an important lesson for mechanics in this strip. Always count your tools at the end of the day! Make sure everything that came out of your tool box goes back into it, and nothing stays inside the aircraft.

And actually, there is an even importanter lesson in this comic:
Don’t let a pilot near your toolbox!