Three slots?
Hang on, that bit about the flight missing three slots really doesn't sound right.
Every time I've seen anyone caught with something they shouldn't have in their carry-on luggage, the problem has been resolved in minutes: it goes in the bin. I've been in one airport in which you can ask them nicely and pay for an envelope and stamp, and they'll let you post it to someone, but that doesn't take long.
He was presumably at the airport the standard three hours before departure, given the time he had to get up, so how on earth did he manage to be still arguing with security over a nail cutter when his flight was due out?
And how come it didn't just go without him? That's the usual sanction if you bugger about with security: OK, mate, we can talk about this while your flight goes, or you can play the game according to the rules. And, as the charming, but somehow utterly convincing recorded voice on the Schipol announcements system says in impeccable English, "Your luggage *will* be removed from the aircraft".
(They seem to have a lot of late check-ins at Schipol,so that announcement becomes familiar during a few-hour layover).
Was the delay actually caused by slipping into a bar to get over the sad binning of the nail cutter, and missing the flight announcements in the resulting haze?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
