In a post titled "O Canada", I groused a little bit about a Canadian Customs official, but also pointed out that our country had much to complain about (LOTS more).
And of course they eventually provided me with fodder for a bitch session here on the blog. We got to the border around four-ish yesterday (Sunday). On the way BACK into the U.S. of A., you must stop for the U.S. Customs to examine your documents. Which we of course did. They said that they were doing random checks, had us move our vehicle to a certain point, turn off the ignition, and go into their headquarters. Where we surrendered our documents (again) and answered some of the same questions the Canadian guy had asked when we ENTERED Canada. L had to produce his Canadian fishing license (we had the legal limit of 4 fish - 8 fillets - with a strip of skin attached to show the species of the fish). Then L explained that he had his own business, I again replied that I was retired, and the U.S. Customs gal asked "From where?" I just don't get it. I think - for the next time travelling between between here and our neighbors to the north - I'll invent some stupid employer and even dumber position at that fictitious employer. Or maybe I'll tell 'em I am a professional blogger and that I am using this experience to give me material to blog about. Any suggestions for that employer or position?
We had to fill out a page on anything we'd bought in Canada - a pair of $29 (Canadian money) leather gloves and I had the receipt. They asked questions about my passport, which had only been renewed a couple of weeks prior to our trip. And "Where were you born?" - for me, and the passport declares my birthplace as California. So my reply was "San Diego". I must be of GREAT interest to them - all these questions FOR ME, including where my residence was. Geeezzzz... They wanted to know what OUR relationship was. I suppose I could have given them some raunchy reply, but I'll bet that they do NOT have sense of humor. Plus they dug through the entire car, which I could tell by the placement of items from where they HAD been, to where they were sitting upon our return. We were completely legal - no weapons, no tobacco, only 3 cans of beer (purchased in the U.S.), etc.
Yup, we were definitely suspicious. As were the others we saw in the same building: a husband-and-wife with 3 young kids, a handful of young folks returning from a church function (the one gal had a head covering similar to an Amish or Mennonite hat), a few young guys who had also been there fishing, and (as we were finally being released) two couples, travelling together, ages approximately 50's or 60's. Yes, we all looked like drug smugglers, or weapons smugglers, or illegal transporters of tobacco, or.... Sigh. So much time wasted for NOTHING. And after a 20-minute delay, we were on our now-not-so-merry-way. They sure know how to ruin a good mood. I feel very violated when this happens (I remember when they used to hand search all luggage at the airports). Hope they enjoyed rummaging through my dirty clothes bag.
When we returned to our vehicle, they had the hood up on the car behind us. I'm not sure just what one might try to hide there, but I'll have to keep that in mind and see if I could put a small suitcase wedged in there sometime. Just to make 'em happy and hoping that it contains contraband...
Well, just posting this makes me seethe. I have a couple of photos that I might post on one more blog. Happy trails, y'all. And IN SPITE of U.S. Customs, I still enjoyed Canada and we experienced mostly great weather. I might even try another visit. So I have to think about my pre-retirement employer...
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