Security

Cheap hotels skimp on security. I park, enter, and wander about at any hour, and no one bothers me. Luxury hotels also make my life easy. Visiting the Beverly Hills Hotel, I park on the street nearby and walk toward the nearest door which remains unlocked even during wee hours. When I press a button on the elevator, it obeys.

In between lies trouble. A Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, or Holiday Inn has innumerable doors because fire regulations require them. But if I want the door to open, it’s the main entrance or nothing. The elevator requires a room key card before it responds. In the past I waited for a guest to enter, but technology is improving, so that often doesn’t work. 

A desk clerk who decides I’m not a suspicious character will make me a card, but I’ve whiled away many hours waiting for a security officer to escort me to the room, and it may take a firm effort to prevent him from following me inside.

A Mysterious Seizure

Airport security confiscated a tourist’s glaucoma eye drops, so he called his insurance who called me. 

The drops come in a tiny 2½ cc bottle, so the seizure seemed puzzling. On the other hand, ten years ago the examiner took my tweezers, a beautiful needle-nosed instrument perfect for removing slivers. It cost $20. Later, I checked the Transportation Security Authority web site and learned that tweezers are permitted. I’m still fuming.

Usually, I offer to phone a refill to a pharmacy when a traveler needs a legitimate prescription, but business has been slow, and the insurance had already told the guest I would come. Ironically, medical experts unanimously frown on giving prescriptions to an unfamiliar patient without an examination. They never explain how an examination in a hotel room can prove that a patient has, for example, glaucoma, osteoporosis, emphysema, acid reflux, or epilepsy. If he takes high blood pressure medication, and I find a normal pressure, must I refuse the refill?