You are a threat to national security

Way back in 1993, I travelled to France on a school-sponsored trip. We visited a walled city whose name I forgot. One of the girls thought it'd be a great idea to bring back a miniature crossbow as a souvenir for her brother. This item provided no problem while travelling through and from Europe; the French airport officials gave it no second thought. However, upon arriving into Newark, all our luggage had to go through Customs. Several of the girls' bags were randomly flagged for full inspection, including the girl who purchased the crossbow.

Imagine the horror on the officers' faces. Justine was quickly ushered into detention while our chaperones frantically tried to explain to the guards that we were students, not terrorists. The problem was that we had a very short layover and our connecting flight was to depart within thirty minutes. We had no way to reschedule and the airport staff made it very clear that they were not responsible for missed flights due to detainment for carrying questionable items in one's bag. They also wouldn't let the rest of us board until our entire group was cleared of terrorist suspicions.

Eventually, the port officials accepted the truth and let Justine keep her crossbow, provided it remained sealed in a special box they gave her, and it was stowed in the luggage hold where nobody could access it.

But I almost became stranded in New Jersey due to a stupid souvenir.

Jam it back in, in the dark.