Re: Mommy's day

"athel...@yahoo" <athel_cb@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote
[...]
On the occasions that I have entered (or
left) the US since 2001 I have always been treated with courtesy,
and have not had any experience along the lines that Franke
reports. (Not, of course, that I'm suggesting that just because I
didn't have a bad experience means that he can't have either, or
that I won't have one in the future.) I don't look the least like
a Mexican or an Arab either, and although my wife is Latin
American she doesn't look like a Mexican. When we were leaving
from Denver two years ago she had to have her bag go through the
X-ray machine five times, but eventually it turned out that she
had a small pair of scissors that she had forgotten about. When
this was finally revealed the security man was perfectly polite
and made no suggestion that it had been other than an oversight.
He just said "don't worry, it happens all the time."

The most unpleasant passage through security occurred in Madrid a
couple of years ago, but I think the problem there was that the
person concerned was too young and inexperienced in her job and
hadn't yet learned that shoutiing at people in a language they
might not understand might not be the best way of get them to
cooperate. I didn't get the impression that her behaviour was due
to a deliberate policy.

From all that I've read and heard and experienced in my 37 years of
international travel, I'm convinced that it is definitely American
Immigration and Customs policy to be as unpleasant as possible to
travelers given the slightest provocation, and that includes all the
recent streamlining. In addition to the bad treatment I talked about
in my post, I've also seen and heard people verbally abused at
immigration headquarters in San Francisco, which I had many occasions
to visit when applying for green cards for two of my wives.

I'm not saying that all U.S. Immigration officials have always
treated me or my foreign wives badly. In fact, one or two of them
were downright friendly and helpful on occasion, but they worked in
the green-card issuing office, not the airport. I am saying, however,
that policy for the department seems to be to discourage as many
foreigners as possible from applying for visas and green cards.

I also state quite unequivocally that nothing I personally did or
said could have been construed by any of the shits I described as
hostile or rude. I do my best to keep a low profile when encountering
government officials because I am wary of them and have been since my
first nasty run-in with them at a border station between Canada and
Vermont in 1970. I appreciate the stressfulness of their working
conditions and have no desire to add to their stress, but they must
have 16th sense that picks up my dislike for being pointlessly
hassled in searches designed to catch terrorists they missed the
first time around.

In August I will post a report of my treatment this time around. I
will again do my best to avoid any confrontations -- who needs the
aggravation? I sure don't -- and hope that is good enough.

--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan.
"It has come to my attention that my opinions are not universally
shared." Scott Adams, The Dilbert Blog, 23 Jan 2007;
http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/
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