Subject: Re: Greetings from Cologne

From: John Maeda  maeda(at)media.mit.edu

[…]

you might also be surprised to know that the thumper is perceived as dangerous by the airlines. i did not carry it on the plane as i thought i would be stopped, so i put it underneath. from cologne to heathrow i had no problem. but as i was perfectly situated in the plane at heathrow and the door was 5 minutes to closing, a stewardess hastily appeared and said to me, "you must leave the plane immediately with your bags. something has been discovered. come with me."

i had 2 bags, one had all kinds of electronic testing equipment, i thought for sure the scanner had picked that up. instead they had found the thumper. "open it," she said. so i opened it warning them they would not understand what they see. i then found the thumper was packed in dried grass. they thought it might be contraband. passengers passing by were saying, "wow! you can bring that much marijuana on the plane?" it became even worse when the thumper emerged from the box, happily jiggling in front of security.

they ran the bunny through the explosives scanner and found that it indeed was *not* dangerous. when i returned to the plane, everyone board had immediately thought that i 'might' be a terrorist of some sort. they all had their eyes on me so i was sure to make no sudden move on the plane.

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