A trip to the Embassy with "1984"

I took the train to Bern this morning to renew my passport at the U. S. Embassy. The security requirements there restrict what you can take inside – no laptops, for example, and no backpacks, with no lockers to store things while you're inside. So all I had was my wallet, my phone, a charger for it on the train, and a small cloth bag with my documents. On the train there, I read "1984" on my phone, and I finished it on my way back. The security experience was nothing like Orwell, though – and I did not return to Basel with anything resembling Winston Smith's final realization: "He loved Big Brother." (Andrew Shields, #111words, 12 May)