Tomato saver stumps TSA

Clearing security is never easy, but who knew a tomato would stump the TSA. I was heading to Seattle last weekend to visit my friend Barbara. She has her own urban garden, but alas, cold cloudy weather has crimped her tomato plants. I decided to surprise her with one of my heirlooms that had just ripened on the vine amid the hottest July ever in NYC. I placed the Chocolate stripe in my handy tomato saver (a birthday gift from my friend Meredith) and stuck it in my knapsack to carry on the plane. At the airport I loaded my bags onto the conveyor belt, pulled off my shoes and stepped through the metal detector. I figured I was good to go, until an agent grabbed my knapsack and asked for a bag check. She rummaged through, pulled out the plastic orange container and looked at me quizzically, as if to say "what the f*&%&%??." I couldn't help laughing. "Oh, that's just a tomato," I said. "I grew it myself." To be sure, she waved her bomb wand over the ripe fruit, cracked a little smile, and let me go. Six hours later, that tomato made a very nice addition to a Quinoa and cabbage salad.