It is a very good thing to do in that it restores a balance of power.

I can't help but think restores the balance of power in much the same way that sticking your thumb in the eye of a grizzly bear restores the balance.

Actually that might be a good way to fight off a grizzly bear, so I'll take it.

Grizzlies would often come down out of the mountains where I grew up. Trust me, I advise you not to.

Thanks. The next time a cop is gruff with me, I'll know why he's frustrated.

If it were me, I'd be afraid the security agent would chose to be a dick and put me in jail for 24 hours for whatever motive he could think of. Also, the fake ID thing is pretty risky.

Why? It's his real name and his real picture. What law is he breaking?

Well, I was once interrogated in a very unpleasant tone by a police officer at the airport of London Heathrow because I was carrying an empty baby buggy, since I was picking up my wife and our son from a trip. Basically I was suspected of attempting to kidnap a child, so now I try to make my encounters with police officers as short as possible.

(I agree that he probably didn't break any laws. The ID thing is awesome, really funny.)

"Laser safety officer" is a lie, and lying to federal officials is not legal.

How is it a lie? Poof, I just created "The raldi-DanBC Club" and as President I hereby bestow upon you the title of Laser Safety Officer.

It's generally illegal to impersonate an police officer, or other government official. Laser Safety Officer is a stretch, but consider Food Safety Officer ("I taste everything that comes out of the kitchen!"). This is where those fuzzy "reasonable person" tests start showing up, much to HN's dismay, where every legal problem should be decidable by a python script.

By what logic do you equate "Laser Safety Officer" with "government official"?

The government employs a great many safety officers. I doubt many people know all of them. A "reasonable person" may conclude, upon presentation of a "Laser Safety Officer" ID, that you are there on official business.

Depends on context. It's not illegal merely to carry such an ID. It's probably not illegal to give one to a Secret Service agent, either, unless you're trying to deceive them, but that's likely skirting close to the edge.

>The government employs a great many safety officers.

So do private businesses.

The Laser Safety Officer for Rockwell Laser Industries - https://www.rli.com/resources/articles/laser_safety_officer.... - is an example of a LSO in private industry.

"Certified Laser Safety Officer" from the Board of Laser Safety ("It should be emphasized that a certificate awarded by the BLS does not constitute a license to practice, nor does it guarantee that a CLSO meets any federal, state or other requirements related to the practice of laser safety.") - http://www.lasersafety.org/uploads/pdf/clso_pp_manual.pdf .

In other words, a 'Certified Laser Safety Officer' is not a government-specific designation.

Turns out, there's even a Wikipedia reference to LSO, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_safety#Laser_safety_offic... . "In many jurisdictions, organizations that operate lasers are required to appoint a laser safety officer (LSO)." with a link to a University of Chicago page at http://safety.uchicago.edu/tools/faqs/laser_safety.shtml which says "only Class 3b and Class 4 lasers are to be registered with the Laser Safety Officer."

(U. Chicago is another non-government organization with a LSO.)