I just returned from visiting family and friends in New Mexico. On these trips, I always have an extra suitcase so I can bring back brews not available in The Great State of Texas.™ In order to not lose any of the precious liquid, I wrap the individual beer cans in newspaper, put them in quart Zip-Lock^® bags, then put three or four at a time in gallon freezer bags.

I’ve been doing this for several years without incident or spillage. In March, the Southwest Airlines^® desk agent asked why my case was so heavy. When I showed him, he bawled me out for not putting enough padding around the cans. He made me wrap my clothing around the gallon bags and slapped a “FRAGILE: HANDLE WITH CARE” sticker on the side of my suitcase.

So this time, I put the double-bagged cans in padded carriers. When I arrived home and opened the suitcase, everything fell out in a heap. All of the cans of beer had been removed from the closed carriers and sealed bags, then returned higgity-piggity. None of the plastic bags had been resealed, and the zippered partition between the halves of the suitcase had not been closed. There was a slip of paper in the case stating, “You’ve been inspected, have no fear.” Apparently, TSA^IGA is not concerned about beer spilling all over the interior of the airplane cargo hold.