1. I had my tenor in a flight case on my back, and two guys came up to me.
"Is that a gun?"
"No, something much more dangerous. A saxophone." They had a funny look on their faces when I said that.
2. Guy comes up and says Sonny Stitt!Sonny Stitt!Sonny Stitt!Sonny Stitt! Yes, I know who Sonny Stitt is. I had an idiot girlfriend who said "Sonny's WHAT?"
I left him with that befuddled look on his face, because I had to catch my flight back to Denver.
Sometimes the instrument can be dangerous. In 1972 I was invited to the Stan Kenton Clinic at Sacramento State and flew in from the central valley instead of driving. I was carrying my Selmer mark IV alto which was not going to go through baggage and let them toss it around. I had to change planes in San Francisco and I told them what was in the case before they ran it through the x-ray. I had opened it when I was in Fresno. As you can imagine they went nuts not knowing what it was and I was quickly surrounded by men and me and the instrument went to another place adjacent to the boarding areas where I emptied my pockets and then opened the case for them to see the horn. I made the plane, they held it when they found our their screw-up, but I thought I was going to be cuffed and arrested for previously trying to tell them what it was and still getting “caught.”
United gave me a free trip to anywhere voucher and were all apologies. Haven’t flown United since and threw the voucher away.
wy69