SFist: Let Us Check Your Bags, Demand GGB Officials

Generic

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:43:02 -0800

"This is a job for a litigious California tourist." Oh amen. Sue, brother, sue. Get arrested on that charge and I'll buy you dinner. And i'd definitely toss some cash to the legal defense fund. A search is one thing. The District Attorney could make a plausible case for bomb deterrence (or something). But for a "Free Tibet" banner? To hell with the CHP. It seems to me they should at least have to wait for you to commit the crime before they restrict access to a public bridge --famous landmark or not. I keep thinking libertarians are nutty whackjobs with an irrational fear of the state ... until I read this crap.

RobInSF

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:34:37 -0800

Ah the irony. Apparently the Chinese do not have a lock on a police state. How soon before we all have to submit to anal cavity searches before boarding MUNI?

Brock Keeling

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:55:24 -0800

@Incandenza: no, sadly, i did not. i have a Marc bag. it's shiny, black pleather. you might have trouble believing this, but i look gay when carrying it.

icbalaam

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:34:33 -0800

Time to fill my messenger bag with sex toys and head over the GG Bridge!

RinconHillSF

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:33:00 -0800

Pretty sure your bags are subject to search on all of the public transit services in the Bay Area. Thanks Osama!

Incandenza

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:17:55 -0800

Ooh, Brock! Did you get the gun-embossed bag featured a few weeks ago?

makfan

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:05:12 -0800

Well, in NYC they occasionally search your things before you can enter the subway. You have the right to refuse the search, but you can't enter the turnstiles if you do. It's a royal pain if you are heading to the airport with all your stuff.

rubylovesnorman

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:03:50 -0800

"God forbid you have the ability to notice people scaling the bridge." It's true, it seems strange. About a year ago, a couple of friends and I decided to walk across the bridge. We arrived kind of late, walked through the gate and were enjoying our freezing cold, windy walk. About half way across the bridge, we were approached by a distraught state trooper wanting to know what we were up to, saying that we were setting off alarms (i think he mentioned pressure sensors?) all over the place. Keep in mind, we didn't hear a thing, we also missed the bridge closes at 9 signs too. They notice us walking across the bridge but not someone climbing it? Odd.

Jimbrowski

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:30:26 -0800

Nice find, Daithi. Passed that along to a few people. I've been to China about three dozen times in the last six years, and the poverty is hard to believe. I worked on containerships and I know first hand about the tight control the local governments keep on everybody and everything, and also their specific dislike of Americans. We actually had to account for bribery, in cigarettes and booze, for the officials in every port in China. I can only imagine what it's like for the central government and how embarrassing this has to be for the Chinese. I have an expired Chinese Visa. Maybe tomorrow I'll go down to to the Embassy to renew it and get a good, close-up look at the action. Or possibly get arrested.

greggers

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:26:52 -0800

Reactive, as always. God forbid you have the ability to notice people scaling the bridge.

daithi

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:55:25 -0800

Great piece in the British press about the mysterious chinese men surronding the torch. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=557941&in_page_id=1770&ct=5

Brock Keeling

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:45:24 -0800

my new bag is really cool, so i kinda don't mind.

DC1974

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:43:51 -0800

No, katyg, this is a job for a litigious California tourist.

KatyG

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:34:40 -0800

Here's hoping some loudmouthed, rude, pushy New York tourist (which I say with all love - NYC native here) doesn't take this bullshit lying down.