Flying Water

Lest you worry, as I did, that the recent security prohibition against bringing liquids through security is all about making you purchase a bottle of water at the gate or on the plane (That's right- water is now no longer free of charge on some airlines. It's a frightening part of the tide toward water as commodity rather than water as basic human right) it turns out you can bring an empty bottle through security. I have now accomplished this multiple times, and on a recent flight the security officer asked "empty bottle?" and sent me on my way, suggesting that it wasn't just an oversight that allowed those empties through. There is almost always a water fountain near the gate, so there's no need to be a tool of water privatization or to go thirsty.


p.s. The photos above I took of a fountain labeled "water interest" at the Detroit Airport on my layover there.