© The Associated Press/Pablo Martinez MonsivaisA Transportation Security Administration screener removes a wrapped holiday present at Reagan National Airport.
The Transportation Security Administration has a tip for Santas traveling by air this holiday season: wrap those gifts after you fly, not before.
If you pack wrapped presents, the TSA's little helpers - airport screeners - will tear them open, surely putting the kibosh on fliers' holiday cheer.
The Grinchy message may not help the agency's lackluster public image, but the policy is a security no-brainer - wrapped presents would be a gift to terrorists hoping to slip threats onto airplanes.
The wrapping paper isn't only a tool of terrorists.
Last week screeners opened one traveler's gift-wrapped packages at Los Angeles International Airptort and found 35 pounds of marijuana, according to Los Angeles' Daily Breeze.
Derik Dwayne Neely, 32, of Flint, Mich., was arrested on suspicion of transporting marijuana for sale, according to the paper.
On its "3-1-1 for Holiday Travel" the agency even offers advice on how to dress to avoid setting off checkpoint metal detectors, and curtly warns travelers against humbug like irreverent humor.
"Be considerate and save jokes for after the checkpoint," the agency writes.
Don't laugh, don't joke, basically don't speak unless spoken to. My god! They want people to act like robots... Merry X-mas from TSA!