Re: Olympics & Customs

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Eric Rachner" <eric () mostly harmless org>
Date: October 5, 2009 1:54:03 AM EDT
To: <dave () farber net>, "'ip'" <ip () v2 listbox com>
Subject: RE: [IP] Re: Olympics & Customs

I’m down to the last empty page in my barely 5-year-old US passport,  
which I hope qualifies me to ask Brock, as Barney Frank so incisively  
put it, “On what planet do you spend the majority of your time?”

In the last couple of years, I’ve entered Switzerland, Denmark, the  
Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, and Belgium a few dozen times in  
total.  Although one does occasionally see armed security staff, it is  
worth mentioning that neither they nor their ilk have ever bothered or  
inconvenienced me in any way, shape or form.  They have never rifled  
my belongings, interrogated me, taken my fingerprints, or kept me  
waiting in hours-long lines.  Not once.

By contrast, when re-entering the US, I very often spend over an hour  
standing in a customs line, where I have, from time to time, had my  
belongings rifled.  I have been sternly warned for failing to declare  
a Snickers bar purchased at a foreign airport.  I have yet to be  
interrogated at any length, but I know people who have.  And I am  
always embarrassed to know that those in the (also hours-long) line  
for non-citizens are required to surrender copies of their  
fingerprints.  The fact that I have almost never seen armed security  
staff while enduring these many little injuries has been of no comfort.




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