Security Theater, or lack thereof

You don't exactly have to be Marlon Brando - there's no method acting required to pull off the perception of public safety at security stops.

But for the uniformed gentleman who gently reminded me to put my bag on the x-ray conveyor belt at the subway station today ... you have to actually FACE and LOOK at the TV screen while my bag is going through - to maintain the illusion.

"You didn't even look!" I snapped when my bag came out the other end. He didn't respond.

I'm pleased though - my Chinese vocabulary hasn't been growing much since my tutor and I are concentrating on catching up my reading, however I've noticed when things piss me off these days I can - on occasion - think quick enough to retort in putonghua. Useful.