Oh, and while I'm posting... can anyone explain to me why the TSA agents at LAX airport security told me that I couldn't take an unopened can of Coca-Cola into the airport, and yet once you pass the security checkpoint, you can PURCHASE beverages in sizes that absolutely dwarf the amount of beverage contained in a can of soda?

I mean, if there are restrictions on the amount of fluids you are permitted to carry into the airport, why are you allowed to BUY even more fluid than that once you've passed the security checkpoint?

The TSA agent did offer me the option of drinking the can of soda on the spot. But I told him, "I've been carrying this all morning. I think it's been jostled too much and I'm afraid it will fizz all over the place if I open it right now. You guys had better keep it. But LET IT SIT for a while before anyone opens it, so it can settle." The last thing I wanted to do was try to open that can, only to have it either spray its contents all over the place like Old Faithful, or simply well up and drip all over the machinery and on people's luggage. We can file either of those situations under "a really bad way to begin the trip home", and neither I nor my fellow passengers, nor the TSA agents for that matter, needed the agita of cleaning up after a can of Coke that was too recently jostled to be opened safely.

In any event, I was minus a can of soda for my troubles. At least they let me keep the orange I brought in with me. But those fluid-restrictions really should be adjusted, IMO, to exclude SEALED beverage containers like unopened cans, or bottles whose lids are still attached to the plastic ring. It's freaking ridiculous to have to give up a clearly unopened can of soda, only to be able to go into the terminal and buy a beverage in a bucket-sized glass. What exactly are they restricting, under circumstances like those?