This government shutdown is the worst. It is affecting people’s everyday lives in different ways, but we are concerned about how it is changing the travel industry.
In the past week, we’ve reported on how all of the Smithsonian museums are shut down indefinitely, and more importantly, how some TSA workers are forced to work without pay. Without a paycheck, some of the workers have been doing the bare minimum when it comes to ensuring passenger safety. TN took to Twitter to ask our followers to share their airport experiences since the shutdown. While it is a serious problem, some of the responses are quite hilarious.
Have you experienced anything that made you raise your eyebrow in the airport during the government shutdown? pic.twitter.com/Isp9UhIDgF
— Travel Noire (@TravelNoire) January 7, 2019
Going through the airport requires passing through extensive security. On a typical travel day, passengers are asked to take their shoes off, open carry-on bags and may be subjected to a pat down. For some travelers now, that wasn’t the case.
RELATED: TSA Calls Out Sick As Government Shutdown Continues, Causing Safety Concerns
They bought through a single dog & we didn't take out laptops, no shoes off https://t.co/Diyypddo4b
— mid pimpin doing a madness (@rumicouldneva) January 8, 2019
No one patted down my Marley twists. Normally they always do 😂 https://t.co/VAVioESGVH
— Sojourner 🌍 Traveling Remote Social Worker (@sojournies) January 8, 2019
It is also common sense that you don’t travel with things that could be considered weapons, but of course, some people tend to forget they are carrying them. This was the case for one of TN’s followers, but thanks to the shutdown, it wasn’t an issue for them.
https://twitter.com/e_ryzzel/status/1082443484286644225
Some are even considering if this will be the new normal.
https://twitter.com/dreaminincolors/status/1082464461515038721
Stateside travel isn’t the only type of travel affected. International travelers are also feeling Trump’s shutdown. While traveling back from London, a passenger thought her carry-on would be subjected to an extensive search, but she thought wrong.
On my way back to London my bag got stopped for further screening and the guy unzipped it, zipped it back and said “okay you can go.” 😂 https://t.co/Pt0jj6nGk9
— 𝕾𝖊𝖓𝖘𝖎🍉 (@Heauxno1currr) January 8, 2019
In some cases, TSA has been letting the hours pass on by while doing nothing. Who could blame them? If you went to work and found out you weren’t getting paid, wouldn’t you take an extended lunch? While traveling from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale, a follower said TSA was very vague. She even made it through security in record time.
Lol it wasn’t anything too bad. I traveled from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale and TSA was very nonchalant. We didn’t take off our shoes, no pat downs, we went through a regular old metal detector. I even was able to get two large bottles of lotions through on my carry on lol
— Ari (@arianattaylor) January 7, 2019
Let’s hope that this government shutdown ends soon because the reality is we don’t need TSA slacking when planes are carrying us through the air.
