Airports

Ahhh. The airport. The second home for most businessmen, right next to hotels. Just some observations I want to put out in the open: 

Why can't one bring an umbrella, especially a telescopic one, inside one's carry-on luggage? This one boggles me. Some would point out that umbrellas pose a security risk since they can be used as improvised weapons, as if only selected objects can be used as killing devices by the most determined murderer. In our trip to Iloilo, Grace requested that I keep her umbrella in my baggage since it's not allowed by airport personnel. In our return trip to Davao, I was advised by the security staff to deposit my umbrella in the baggage counter (which I promptly ignored) when they saw I was carrying it in my carry-on bag. 

My take is that maybe the airport staff are either just a bit paranoid or they don't really understand the logic behind the prohibition. The TSA or the Transport Security Administration of the United States actually allow umbrellas as carry-on baggage once they have been inspected to ensure that prohibited items are not concealed. So, if the TSA, the department tasked with overseeing post-9/11 security measures across all airports in America, can allow umbrellas as carry-on baggage provided they don't harbor any illegal or dangerous stuff, I see no reason why their Philippine counterparts have to be so rigid with regards to umbrellas. 

Second, I have finally seen another airport (Iloilo's) apart from NAIA and Davao City's Bangoy and one word summarizes what I have seen: Boring. The architecture, though sleek and reminiscent of the airplanes the building services, is quite monotonous. It's as if there was only architect commissioned to design each and every one of the country's airports. From the roofing structure down to the flooring, everything is roughly the same. I don't know if there are a set of rules governing airport design and thus dictating that they all come from the same cookie cutter. But our airports can really benefit from a dose of creativity and color should renovation be waiting around the corner. 

Finally, Kit shared his story a long time ago about one of his flights back to Manila. He was sitting beside a gay man and he was clearly troubled that this man just kept using his cellphone right before take-off. Alarmed, he told the man to shut the thing off to which the man promptly retorted that his cellphone was on flight mode. Flight mode? Apparently, Kit did the right thing by giving the man the benefit of the doubt. Flight mode is actually a setting in most advanced cellphones which disables the device's ability to place or receive calls or send or receive text messages. That was the first time I heard of such a setting. Unfortunately, my cellphone doesn't have one.