Notes from the Airport

I spent yesterday traveling across the country.  Several thoughts sprang to my wandering mind in the airport.
   
     1) This country really, really needs a dress code.
     As we waited to board the jet, I mused that a better photographer than I could create a website called People of the Airport, a variation on that People of Walmart thing that was cruel but popular a couple years ago.  So I looked up the idea and, sure enough, there already is such a site.  It is full of people in tailored, chic suits, not the Real People of the Airport.  At least not my airport.
   

      Think about it.  People seem to haul most of their wardrobes in the bags they check and carry onto the airplane.  Surely inside most of those bags are simple, tasteful clothing items in non-garish colors.

     I've said enough.  You know what I mean.  Let's up our game, folks.

     2) The "it" gift this last holiday season obviously was the "toast phone," available from Android, Apple and others.  Essentially it is a six-inch phone that accommodates people's increasing use of mobile for essential tasks like taking selfies and watching movies.

     Everyone in the airport seemed to be consulting these new, larger phones.  I'll probably get one myself pretty soon, but I wonder where this will end.  Will we have eight-inch phones in time for the next presidential election?  Phones that look suspiciously like tablet computers a few years after that?
      Think about the implications.  Those toast phones wouldn't fit in my pocket, and I don't think they can be particularly convenient for men to carry.
      Will the next fashion be very exaggerated cargo pants with great big pockets at the knee level? Will the market for murses (man purses) make a comeback after Jerry Seinfeld so effectively drove a stake through its heart all those years ago?
      I worry about these things.

      3) TSA Precheck is not bad.  With it, you don't have to dig out your laptop or baggie of tiny liquids for the luggage scanner.  You also can leave on your shoes and most of your clothing while walking through the metal scanner.
     Plus, you do not have to walk through a millimeter radiation full-body scanner, whose effects scientists are -- only now! -- starting to study.  Unfortunately, we learned recently that TSA employees really do laugh at our body images on those scans from a distant spot in the airport.

      Last year, I was offered the opportunity to purchase Precheck authorization for $85, but I declined.  I seem to be sorted into the Precheck line on most flights anyway.  It is a small comfort when navigating the airport.