quote:

Actually, biblical translations only specify "fruit" in Genesis. A kumquat would do. Or mango or quince. Just sayin'....

Tried to make a simple joke – not my forte.

I have used the “Expulsion” in several windows over the years. Quick summary: the Ancient Hebrew going through Greek, Latin and English translations, wound up as “partake of the tree of knowledge.”

The current Torah states “as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it….”
The original 1611 King James: “Of euery tree of the garden thou mayest freely eate. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and euill, thou shalt not eate of it….”

The Tree of Knowledge could have produced fruits, nuts, edible leaves or bark, or ?

Christians have traditionally used the apple: Michelangelo used the fig tree and John Milton started the trend of the apple.

I still maintain that she would have been OK with a banana.

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Originally posted by Elk Hunter:
I am very happy for all those posting about how stupid this woman was. Glad to know none of you have ever made an innocent mistake.

Thank you, Elk! Thought I was in a serious minority by thinking this whole issue was nonsense. Global Entry notwithstanding, she got an effing apple on an airplane from the crew and put it in her carryon - BFD!

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AKA Nuts, who hasn't had a pack of nuts in their bag etc. when traveling.

Female sex.

Who should the rules apply to? Who should get to lie to customs? I could give two shits about an apple, but if there is a rule why should it not apply to everyone? Don't like the rule, lobby to get it changed, but to think that it should arbitrarily not apply to yourself, or someone else for that matter is childish. If you don't want to pay the fine then don't break the rules. The lady may be stupid and not understand that an an apple is a fruit, or she could have just not cared what the rules where, it does not matter. There should be one set of rules for everyone. If we give a pass to people who violate the law, no matter how trivial it may seem, then we are admitting that our rules are flexible. This sort of thinking is exactly why a large number of people think that our immigration laws should not be enforced. They think if they don't agree with the laws that they should not be enforced. It's only an apple, it's only another illegal immigrant, it's only a stop sign.

If an item is considered contraband, why is it being handed out on an airplane?

For all of you guys talking about "rulez is rulez" allow me to tell a brief story I have shared here before. Many moons ago my mother was a reserve police officer for a municipality in St. Louis County. After she partially retired she was seeking a part time position, and took a job with the TSA. This is back when things were hot and heavy in the middle east.

Working at Lambert International, there were a number of service men and women who were flying commercial flights on their way to wherever they had to report. They were usually in uniform, with whatever credentials or orders they had in hand, and it wasn't uncommon for them to travel with a knife or multi-tool.

Rules are rules right. Those fighting for our nation should have been criminally charged for attempting to board an aircraft with one of those deadly weapons. And even if they weren't criminally charged, they should have been admonished and forced to dispose of those items in a bin that the federal government would then auction off and pocket the money from.

I can tell you the exact day my mother's bosses began to dislike her. It was the day she showed up to work with a stack of prepaid flat rate envelopes that I provided her along with a sharpie marker. Once it was evident that they were about to loose a tool that they needed, they were provided an envelope and pointed towards the airport post office right across the way.

There is a way to apply common sense to some of these issues. Unfortunately the government has a difficult time comprehending such things.

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Originally posted by MooneyP226:

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Originally posted by SFCUSARET:
Sounds like a case of little dick syndrome on the part of the customs agent. Classic govt bullshit overeach. The right thing to do would be to confiscate the fruit and educate the person not to do it again, but no, the dickless agent had to show their power of authority and intimidate a hapless traveler.

Could also, then, it be a case of the agent being nice, her blowing up, and the agent decide she's being a toolbag and dropping the boom?

I think there a portion of the story missing still.

That was my first thought. She looked bitchy in the video

Could be a case of “bitchy resting face”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v98CPXNiSk

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Originally posted by a1abdj:
If an item is considered contraband, why is it being handed out on an airplane?

Because on an international flight, at least most every one I have ever conducted, the food and trash are bagged, sealed and removed from the flight by customs, agriculture agents, or one of their contractors. This happens in many countries I have visited.

It is similar to being on flights to Muslim countries where alcohol is nominally banned in the country. You can drink all you want right up until the door is open and that plane becomes part of the country.

I frequently deal with Customs offices and Officers directly. The most frustrating thing is that separate offices have different rules. No reason other than, "the Port Director says."

Fortunately we have a very good rapport with our local office. But that rapport is based on trust that we as an air carrier do everything in our power to abide by the law. Many offices are weary until we prove ourselves with a few flights. Some offices (:cough: Buffalo :cough are just outright jerks and are unlikely to change. Generally though it's rare to find an officer who remembers that we're their customer and they're there to make sure we abide by the law..

As for the $500 apple. She probably shouldn't have hid it and lied about it. It's their sandbox, they just let us play in it.

It shouldn't be handed out on a plane if it's such horrible contraband.

quote:

Originally posted by Monk:
It shouldn't be handed out on a plane if it's such horrible contraband.

It's really easy, on an international flight you either eat it on the plane, decline it, or leave it on the plane. It's something I learned my first international trip and it's really not a big deal.

Every international flight that I can recall, they pass out a snack about 60 to 90 minutes before the end of the flight. Many people have been sleeping and haven't eaten in a while and some even slept through the last meal. It's one of the things I'm glad they do as the amount of time customs can take it's nice to have some food in your belly.