AW1Steve
Posts: 14507
Joined: 3/10/2007 From: Mordor Illlinois Status: offline
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ORIGINAL: Walloc quote:
ORIGINAL: AW1Steve So come on out! I'll certainly stop by Danmark to buy you a drink next time I'm in Europe. Chickenboy and I have been trying to plan some kind of Middle of America WITP/AE Summit here. Problem is it's been so bloody hot. Maybe this autum. Sigh, now i hafta teach another american that europe is a pretty large place. Non the less u more than welcome and in that case ill take u up on that offer. I dont live that far from Timtom, IIRC. About going the other way. Last time, actually it was not the last, i tried to enter US soil, it seemed i wasnt going to be allowed in. When the 19th agent/officer asked me how long it had been since had enter a pig sty, apparently brought on from the fact that i was from Africa. My answer being the same, oh about 20 years when i was a kid. i did start to wonder if i was going to be allowed in. Too boot I had to convince the immigration officer that mr T was willingly subsidicing me by paying 60% of his income in taxes. All ending up in my pockets, and i didnt earn any money my self.(at that time) I got a very long stare..... I was certain that i was headed to either a rubber padded cell or a plane home. Ahh, cultural differences. Oh i can attest that US security officers dont do racial biased selections for security checks. Tho from africa im pretty caucasian looking. Blond and so on. One of the times on my way home. I arrive at Dulles Int. airport a few hours early. GF apparently wanted me out early... I was the first in the lounge and was sitting a reading a book about counter terrorist warfare. This was noticed by one of the officers. At some point i saw 4-5 of them standing and talking, looking my way. The only one picked out for a full check and i do mean full security check was me. Bags of plane, all cloths off, soles out of shoes and so on. Lesson learn. Read some thing else in an airport. Least but not the last the FBI has a pair of my scissors. Ex-GF has a summer house S of SF. I arrive on 9/10-2001 at SF international late that night with a United Airlines flight from London. Some how im happy that we didnt had any technical problems and had to make an "emergency" landing in Boston. Next UA flight out of Boston to SF was UA flight 93. I had my standart travel scissors in my bag with toothpaste and so on. No problem on the way over. HUGE problem on the way home, so i let the FBI keep it rather than the captain having to have it in the cabin. Well that was an interresting 10 days in the USA. Never got to see any '49 games as they were cancelled. That ofc dwarfed by the reason to why that was. Forgive me Steve but im hessitant on taking any chances involving fligths to the US as of recently, but thx for the offer. Ok ok bad excuse, but some nice stories. Kind regards, Rasmus Rasmus, having both been stationed in Europe and having gone to college there, I have a pretty good idea of the size. It's actually pretty tiny! As far as the treatment from our officials upon entry , don't take it personally , they do it to everyone. Even members of our military , in uniform and on orders. I do know how it feels to be under the eye of foreign officials. On my 1st trip to the UK I was detained by British officials for several hours. It's a scarey feeling, so I definately understand. But after September 11th 2001 , air travel in the USA became very UN-FUN. I love to fly (did it for 23 years in the USN , and am now starting private pilot lessons--again). But I will not fly commercial unless I absolutely have to. In September I have to. But I'm not going to like it! On the on ther hand , it sounds like you had a particularly bad experince. I'm sorry for the treatment you recieved at the hands of my government. The people who did that to you are "sorry" too. But as an adjective.As in "a pretty sorry lot". And I can't guarantee you won't have that experince again. But I seriously hope you won't hold that against us.
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