State Surplus Store Has Your Dangerous Snow Globes, Belts
Need a knife? A snow globe? A grenade-shaped belt buckle? Someone may have left one for you at a Texas airport.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that the Texas state surplus store offers various airport contraband for low, low prices.
Transportation Security Agency (TSA) security excesses of the past five years have increased the quantity of useless, verboten crap such as the aforementioned sharp, liquid-filled, or threateningly-shaped objects. The store also sells forgotten airport items like bowling balls and stuffed animals, as well as unwanted odds and ends like state trooper cars and office furniture.
Perhaps more to the point, the article notes that:
In 2010, [Texas's] general fund was enriched $300,000 by the storefront's sales…In its own small way, the stuff travelers leave behind is helping ease the state's financial woes.
The TSA and the Republic of Texas don't always get along so smoothly, but this arrangement seems to be working out for everyone—except people who want to a snow globe souvenir of their trip to Texas. Only time will tell how many rogue pocket knives it takes to cure Texas's $15-25 billion deficit.
