paper

See this wrapped up scroll at the corner by the door?  I had a silly experience at the Hong Kong airport.  Where else, the supposedly friendly, free and forward thinking society... Right.... Since the Brits left... 

As I was ready to get through pre-screen before actual security screening and immigration, this girl stopped us.  "You cannot take this onto the plane, it's too big!".  Excuse me?  Too big?  How so?  "This is longer than 21" she spoke snarlingly.  Typical power trip.  In her hands, I noticed a stack of orange paper wondering what that was.  So iron-wife and I trooped back to the CX counter.  "It's a paper scroll, we need to hand carrying this.".  The ticket agent said "Ok, wait a minute".  She came back with on orange slip, typed it on the scroll and said "You are good to go".  What?  All this fussing for a piece of orange paper?  

I walked thru the pre-screening.  That say snarly girl came over and said "I need to tear one side of the paper off".  That was it.  We walked through. So what the hell was that all about?  Whose sick idea of "process".  It's worst than the pre-red commie days.  The only thing I can think of: job creation.  And we are wasting paper for this?  A rubber stamp may do the trick.  Literally.