Do not enter
A few months ago I wrote a piece on the pre-Hispanic gold exhibition at the Ayala Museum. I viewed the collection three times in the course of the writing, and I always brought my very large shoulder bag. After the article came out in Newsweek, the museum director sent me a nice note with complimentary tickets to the museum enclosed. (The entrance fee, including the Crossroads of Civilizations exhibition, is P450.)
Yesterday I had lunch with my friend Ligaya, who is visiting from Paris. Since we were near the museum, I suggested we look at the old gold. We used the second-floor entrance, handed in the comp tickets, and signed the visitor book. The very polite staff told us we had to deposit our bags at the lobby. Ligaya did not want to leave her bag as it contained all her travel documents. I figured the guards would let us bring our bags; if they were suspicious, they could assign one of their number to follow us around, since there were more guards than visitors on Sunday afternoon.
We took the elevator to the fourth floor and walked into the exhibition hall. The guard let us in. We were already looking at a display of very large earrings when another guard approached and brusquely announced that we had to leave our bags in the lobby. “Sinabi nang iwan yung bag, e,” he said. It was not the content that ticked me off, it was the tone. Another guard said, “Complimentary tickets pala.”
One, I do not allow myself to be scolded by security guards. Two, whether the tickets were free or not, all museum visitors are entitled to common courtesy.
As a rule I no longer argue with security guards. It is clear we do not understand each other. So Ligaya and I went down to the lobby, explained to the desk staff that we did not want to leave our bags, and asked them to return our tickets. Which they did, politely and without fuss. Then I texted one of the museum managers and told her what happened. She apologized and said the No Bags policy started after an accident involving a large bag in the porcelain exhibition. She said they were putting in lockers so visitors would feel safe about leaving their things. That’s nice. But, see, the people in charge are always polite. The people who actually have to face the public act like we’re trespassing on their property. I would prefer not to be treated like a terrorist.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
July 14th, 2008 at 23:07
Well…well….well….. it’s the same thread to what happened to me at Shangrila EDSA years ago. There was a film festival. I bought a ticket but I had an hour to kill, so I whipped out my laptop to surf the net via their WiFi. There were no seats outside the cinemas then, so, I sat on the floor in one corner. Their security guard walked towards me to say that I can’t sit there. Fine. I’m ok with that. So, still sitting, I was putting my laptop back in my bag when the head of security came over and told me rather with Military gusto to stand up because “nakakahiya sa mga bisitang galing sa (name of country.)” I saw red. I said, “Nahihiya kayo sa akin??? Ikinahihiya nyo ako laban sa isang kulturang bihirang naliligo?!” Sure, we have different cases but the same level of abrasiveness from security guards. If you felt like a terrorist, I felt like a hampas-lupa.
July 15th, 2008 at 05:56
I used to teach in one of those franchise computer school that they put around in malls. Naturally I have to go in early to prepare lessons and such, typical teacher activities. But for the 12+ months working there the guards never seem to understand that I work there. I talked to the franchise owner about this and she said she gets that treatment herself sometimes, often resorting to shouting matches with mall security just to be able to open shop.
I take it they’re the ones who, when they were still kids at school, bullied the little ones into comic books and computers but never did well themselves. So after realizing that the geeks they used to pick on now have salaries more than 10 times of theirs, they do their best to “get back at them”.
July 15th, 2008 at 09:44
When I was in the Philippines last year, my wife and I were always asked to leave our bags outside when we were going into an SM Hypermart. My wife is from the Philippines and so this did not strike her as anything out of the common way. But I really hated the idea of leaving our property outside. For one thing, they had scanners to pick up any wrongfully uplifted goods; for another thing, they had enough security staff on hand in the store to supply the defence force of a small country. Add to that the repugnance of being treated like a thief and a threat without any basis.
As a result, I developed a strategy which seemed to work admirably well. As soon as the security guard or greeter descended upon us to direct us to the bag corral, I assumed my most puzzled facial expression, strode plaintively up to them and asked them, in tones most helpless, a question about the location of some obscure item in the store (usually it was soy milk). They considered the question briefly, sometimes conferring amongst themselves, and working out where to direct me. Then I asked for an indication of which direction it was or how to get there. While they were pointing it out, my wife and I hauled butt past the cordon and into the store, smiling and thanking our guides. Then we did a very brisk perp walk away, so as not to hear any belated comments about our bags. Of course, we usually ended up being tailed by security guards with concerns that 2 litre bottles of water was going into out trolley and not into our very inadequately sized bags.
I love the Phils, but I don’t like the constant feel-ups at mall entrances or the askance looks and peremptory commands of guards all the time. I think that guy on Youtube with the ‘Free Hugs’ sign must have been inspired by the Shoemart welcome committees. I had the ‘benefit’ of not knowing Tagalog very well and looking a bit different which helped with getting around bureaucracy a bit. (Also helped me withstand with blunt incomprehension the immense controversy whipped up when I wanted to get served at a very unoccupied and unused – and, can I stress it again, completely VACANT – ‘VIP’ checkout in the same Hypermart.) On the other hand, my wife would sometimes get the full treatment while I was standing around un-hassled.
Anyway, I just love the bits in the Twisted books and in this blog where you document and lambaste the crazy security culture in malls and the like.
Cheers.