R.I.P. my folding umbrella
I always carry a lightweight folding umbrella in my bag because I have no intention of drowning in a sudden downpour. This particular umbrella I’d had since 2006, when I unintentionally snitched it from my friend’s husband who is now her ex-husband and probably considers it part of their divorce settlement. I had it in my totebag, and when I went through the second X-ray security check at NAIA Terminal 2 the guards confiscated it.
Why, I asked, when it doesn’t have a sharp end that I could stab someone with?
We just got a memo: No umbrellas, they replied.
I thought, Because I might bludgeon someone with a five-inch folded umbrella? Because I might strip the fabric off and skewer people with the prongs? But I know the futility of argument in these cases so I handed it to them and said, Fine, throw it away.
Of course I got caught in the rain coming out of Molly’s Irish pub in Guam.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
October 19th, 2010 at 15:56
hi jessica. how’s the weather in Guam? did Juan interrupt your pub-hopping?
October 19th, 2010 at 21:06
that is just dumb, no?
after the underwear bomber last december, i had to fly to the US (from Canada) on business. aside from the usual security and carry-on bag hassles, they now asked passengers to put their hands in their pants/skirt pocket and then wipe the fingers with a piece of cloth which they then scan.
well, if your pants/skirt didn’t have pockets, they asked you to put your hands IN your pants. from then on I made sure my pants had pockets when I’m flying to the US.
thank god this procedure has since been scrapped.
October 20th, 2010 at 00:51
sunflowii: If you’re taking a flight to the US from NAIA terminal 2 they X-ray your bag in front of the gate, then make you leave it. You have to submit your shoes for inspection (again), go around the barrier, then collect your shoes and your bag. Meaning you are actually separated from your luggage for a few minutes. That’s secure?