USA on 5 harmonicas a week (was Rant: Blues, Overblows, kazoo a day, etc.)

[Tim Rose <tim.rose@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark Crowley wrote:
> a friend recently went on an overseas flight with all his gear...
> 
I recently visited the USA on business for a week, and mindful of 
earlier harp-l discussions, I wondered how much trouble I would 
encounter with my harmonicas.  The answer: not much!

But I did take a few precautions:  I packed my 5 harmonicas in a small 
clear(ish) plastic box with partitions (like a fishing tackle box), and 
I always pulled that box out and placed it in the same tray as the 
computer notebook I was carrying, so they were scanned/examined together.

A few of the security staff asked what they were, and one of them 
actually opened the box to see "close up", but apart from that they were 
only mildly amused, and could readily see from the outside that there 
was nothing dangerous/threating on the inside (of course, they may have 
changed their mind if they'd hear me play :-).

> as this guy repacked all his gear and was trundling out the door he 
 > looked up to see some other guys being trundled in -
 > John Butler and some of his crew

Now that would've been something!  He and Nicky Bomba did some wonderful 
impromptu stuff at this year's Byron Bay Blues Fest.

- --Tim Rose.