Irrational Irradiation

(Our inspectors group is at the TSA checkpoint, serving a line of the passengers. I’m standing in front of the x-ray, helping the passengers to load their carry-ons and clothes, when I see a lady in the line starting to fish something out from her bag.)

Me: “Excuse me; you don’t need to take anything out of your bag! Just put it on the conveyer belt as it is.”

Passenger: “Yes, I have to! How can I have my food exposed to the radiation?” *proceeds to take a rather large plastic container out of her bag and put it aside*

Me: “Excuse me, but there are rules; we need to check all of your things. Please put the box onto the conveyer belt.”

Passenger: “I’m not doing this! I’m not gonna eat irradiated food!”

Me: “Ma’am, this is a normal x-ray machine, it isn’t constructed to harm people. You do x-ray in the hospital, don’t you? This one gives you even less a dose of the rays!”

Passenger: “Don’t bull-s*** me! This is not made for people; I’m not putting my lunch inside this! There’s RADIATION!”

Me: *pointing at an x-ray machine next to ours, opened for the catering guys; they’re putting packs of soda for the customer service at the departure lounge through the machine* “You see, all of our catering services have to put all their food through it as well, so there’s really nothing harmful—”

Passenger: “Ah! Good thing you said it! I’ll make it a point to never buy any food here!”

(Finally I gave up on arguing and just called a co-worker who checked the lady’s lunch box visually. In less than two minutes the x-ray operator found out she had a water bottle of a larger than allowed volume, and sure enough, there ensued another scene, where the passenger lady fiercely defended her right to keep her bottle. And, when she predictably failed in this, as the apotheosis of this all, she loudly ranted all over the checkpoint and promised to file a complaint on how we made her drink the poisonous water spiked with the awful x-ray radiation.)