So what do you get when you cross two holiday themes like aVeterans Day story and the whimsies of air travel?
You get soldiers who must dump their hair spray and shaving creamat the airport before boarding the plane with their automaticweapons.
Air travel works that way in a war zone, said Laurie Schmid. Shespoke Tuesday at a veterans' observance at Thomas Jefferson MiddleSchool, telling how 15 months in Afghanistan affected her and herfamily.
Flying home was interesting, too, the U.S. Navy Reservist said inan earlier interview.
'We were leaving on a military charter flight, and they weredoing a basic customs search in Afghanistan. Any bullets, you turnthem in, but you can bring weapons on board,' she said. 'Then theytold us, no aerosols at all: no WD-40, no shaving cream, no hairspray. They said something about pressurized stuff, and what itcould do.'
(This topic has gotten some national blog play. The dad of oneMarine wrote that his son went through airport security, and, 'Theyignored the machine guns and the footlong bayonet. However, theytook away his tube of toothpaste.')
Schmid said that '2-inch blades were OK, so I had my multitooland a pocket knife. I had my M-16 and my 9mm pistol. We had M-240sand M-4s, and a couple of guys had shotguns. But we can't haveshaving cream.'
Fit to be tied, with help
While a visit to a car dealer might seem a casual affair, U.S.Rep. Brian Baird found himself a bit too informal. At Vancouver Fordfor a recent press conference with U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, he wasprepared to discuss a state sales tax deduction.
But Baird, in a blue button-up shirt, would have seemedunderdressed next to dealership president Jon Creedon and RustinBrewer, a CPA - both in suits - not to mention Cantwell, typicallyclassy in a black jacket and slacks. So Baird underwent a politicaltransformation.
A Cantwell aide tore off his own tie and tossed it to Baird, who,in less than a minute, had a neat full Windsor. Add a sport coat,and he was ready to go.
Baird flew in from D.C. that morning and went straight to a dress-down Planned Parenthood event, said an aide who took the blame forthe wardrobe malfunction. 'We had, like, five ties in the car, but Iforgot to grab one,' she said.
Off Beat lets members of The Columbian news team step back fromour newspaper beats to write the story behind the story, fill in thestory, or just tell a story.
