Nine Strange Days: A trip to Costa Rica I was all packed up and ready to go by 10am PST for my 11:34am flight out of Santa Maria International airport to LAX. For the flight I wore a long-sleeved shirt, cotton sweater, long pants, and closed slip-on shoes, Merrills are the greatest travel shoes. They always air-condition the plane and the terminals at least ten degrees lower than my comfort zone. I’m happiest at 78 degrees F. I went to the ticket counter at the Santa Maria International Airport. It is amusing that it is called an “international airport” when only small turboprop United flights and small jets pass through there on their way to somewhere else. On a busy day there are maybe six flights to and from the terminal. It was sort of like Santa Maria calling itself a “city” when really it is one large shopping mall with no culture. A farm town with dreams of going big-time. I was able to pack for a two-week trip with a carry-on bag and a personal bag. At the ticket counter I found out I was pre-checked in, in fact they already knew me by name, but I still had to show my passport seeing that I was there. If they knew who I was already, then why did I need to show identification? We laughed at the absurdity. I received my tickets and went to wait for the TSA people to wake up and come to work. My bags were burdensome. I had packed for nine days. This included my laptop computer and my camera with an extra lens. The bulging bags weighed a lot but I got through security and on-board the plane with no problem except for when they told me to take my iPad out of the bag. I stared at the man. A woman and another man in TSA uniforms edged closer sensing a disruption. “What iPad?” I asked, standing in my stocking feet, “I don’t own an iPad, I have a laptop and it is right there in the tray as required.” “Sir, you must remove your iPad.” I could see this getting more and more surreal. “I have a laptop, I do not have an iPad in this bag. See?” I could feel the stirring of panic as I watched everyone else slip by. “Sir, the iPad cannot stay in the bag, you must remove it.” Was this going to get ugly? Finally, grudgingly, they allowed me to pass, though I could sense that they really did not believe me and the concept of having a laptop and no iPad seemed to be beyond their comprehension. For crying out loud you’d think that a laptop was a new product that they never heard of before. They must see hundreds every day. At the time iPads were fairly new and you didn’t see many in general use. What dimension did these people come from?
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 18:19:39 +0000
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