There is nothing wrong with taking steps to reduce the risk of fires, but some of the "rules" that have been instituted over the years are misguided. When I was doing a lot of private consulting, I traveled with a laptop computer, and like many business travelers at the time, I passed the laptop around the magnetometer/X-ray station for a check at the other side. The check? Turn on the computer so the screener making minimum wage could see a boot-screen, at which point, they would wave you through. How stupid! Anybody who wanted to take down a plane (and kill themselves in the process) could request a seat near places where critical control facilities ran in the aircraft's hull, and pack any spare battery docks/drive bays with plastic explosives. At least now, laptops are thinner and offer less volume for such materials to be stowed.
The day after the Lockerbie (sp?) downing, I was trying to return home from a training session at Nine-Mile Point in Oswego, and I put all my metal stuff in the plastic tub before boarding, only to find myself in a weird confrontation with a couple of screeners. I was carrying a small high-quality pocket knife, and they were obviously looking for a nice freebie. One said "feel this blade", and the other said " wow! that's really sharp", giving me a disapproving look and they told me that I couldn't take that knife on the plane. I asked how I could resolve that, and they said that I could leave the boarding area, find a post office and mail it to myself, which would have made me miss my flight. I showed them my ticket, and said that I would put it in my carry-on (with all my course materials, etc, which I really didn't want to risk) and check that bag. I was able to do that, but an uninitiated traveler would probably have lost a $40 pocket knife to that shake-down.
