Security Checks

I got stopped going through the metal detectors at Bangkok airport the other day. It was my own laziness that did it. A smiling Thai woman with a hand-held detector directed me to stand on a small box for a more thorough search. She started with my arms and torso. All clear. Next she checked my hips and thighs. Not a beep. But even as she patted my legs I knew what the problem was.

A couple of months ago I was at a meeting when I realised the hem on the right leg of the grey, pin-striped pants I was wearing had come unstitched. I quickly borrowed a stapler and punched half a dozen staples through the bottom of my pants. At the time it seemed like the perfect solution.

The stranger finished her check and waved me on. The faint smile on her lips looked as though it had turned into a knowing grin. She laughed and said something to one of her colleagues, but until I know the Thai words for "weirdo foreigner with stapled pants" I guess I'll never know....