Man Stopped by Airport Security Over Mystery Christmas Gift His Grandma Told Him Not to Open

“You’re bringing a briefcase, and you don’t know what’s inside?” Brett Gaffney recalls being asked

Brett Gaffney’s grandmother wanted his Christmas present to be a surprise — but it nearly got him in trouble with airport security.

In a viral TikTok video, the Los Angeles-based actor explains, “I got stopped at the airport security, and you know what? It was because of this briefcase my grandma gave me as an early Christmas gift, and she said don’t open it until you get to California.”

“I was like, ‘What is in the briefcase? It’s super heavy,'” the Kansas native adds.

“Just wait ’til you get there,” Gaffney’s grandma told him.

“I was like, ‘Grandma, I’m going to the airport, like I need to know,'” he recalls saying.

While he dutifully followed her instructions not to peek inside the briefcase, the TSA agents had other ideas.

“They asked me what was inside, and I said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know,'” Gaffney says. “They said, ‘What do you mean? You’re bringing a briefcase, and you don’t know what’s inside?’”

The briefcase was flagged by security on the x-ray conveyor belt, and an agent then opened it and informed Gaffney what was inside.

The mystery gift turned out to be a vintage typewriter.

“Who am I, Tom Hanks?” Gaffney jokes, referring to the Oscar winner’s famous enthusiasm for typewriters. “Am I going to go to the park and write a whole book with a typewriter?”

“I almost didn’t get into the airport because of this typewriter,” he adds.

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Commenters on the video, which has garnered more than 500,000 views since it was posted last week, were delighted by the story.

“The fact u listened and didn’t open it is so innocent lmao,” one TikTok user wrote, to which Gaffney replied, “I’m a man of pure trust.”

“I feel like the words ‘I don’t know, it’s a surprise’ shouldn’t be uttered to TSA, let alone in one sitting,” someone else wrote.

After getting home, Gaffney continued to update followers on his typewriter journey, noting that the device was an SCM Smith-Corona 250.

“I’ve never used one of these,” he admits in another video, posted Monday. He then attempts to type on a page pulled from a journal, observing that he’ll need to buy typewriter ribbons on seeing how faint the ink appears.

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In a video posted Wednesday, Gaffney shares that he’s warmed up to the machine, even comparing it to the new toys that inspired him to play hooky as a child.

“I got this new typewriter, because I’m becoming an old man,” he says. “And all I want to do is stay home and type on my typewriter.”

By the end of the week, Gaffney had procured a ribbon and paper.

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On Thursday, he posted a video of himself happily typing, with the caption, “I didnt think I'd use this, but here we are. Its so calming.”

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