Why me?

MK wrote:

Better to have overly thorough security than too little.

Is "overly thorough" spending an equal amount of time or more on low
risk passengers when the time could be better spent on higher risk
passengers. This was a family of 5 from the UK.

I don't mind being overly secure, but security inspections in the US
have been more of a dog and pony show.

In article ,
(Ian) wrote:

Not the Karl Orff wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Ian) wrote:


Were you on a oneway ticket, changed flights close to departure date,
or paid cash?

None of these. The LAX and SFO tickets had been bought several months
prior. Only the MCO - MIA flight was 'booked' on the day because we
had been bumped off the London to MIA flight and been re-routed
thorugh MCO.

I wonder if this was it. Were you booked onto an another airline?

(Ian) wrote in message om...
[snip]
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can
and wisdom always to tell the difference.
(Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.)

Actually, it is usually attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr. Although
there is some suggestion that it is a translation of a german prayer.

"Boxall's Accommodation" wrote in message
...
"Peter L" wrote in message
...

I have often said that immigration officers the world over go to the
same
charm school. And where do you get the idea that the US is famed for
its
service culture? Even in Thailand, famed for its service culture, the
immigration officers have the same expression as their counterparts in
China
and Russia.


Actually, I have found that that immigration officers in Australia --
at least at SYD -- can be quite the opposite of what one would expect.
Even had one exchanging jokes with me.

I have exchanged jokes with US immigration officers. I am talking about the
general behavior of all immigration officers, in all countries.

"me" wrote in message
om...
(Ian) wrote in message
om...
[snip]
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can
and wisdom always to tell the difference.
(Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.)

Actually, it is usually attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr. Although
there is some suggestion that it is a translation of a german prayer.

I think you are missing a comma there. Instead of "God grant me...", it
should be "God, grant me..."

(me) wrote in message . com...
(Ian) wrote in message om...
[snip]
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can
and wisdom always to tell the difference.
(Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.)

Actually, it is usually attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr. Although
there is some suggestion that it is a translation of a german prayer.

In that case, Kurt Vonnegut JR. failed to attribute the words to
Reinhold Niebuhr. Take it up with him. I just happen to think the
sentiment is a nice one and I found it in Slaughterhouse 5. I am a
better person for having been put straight.
Ian

"Peter L" wrote in message ...
"me" wrote in message
om...
(Ian) wrote in message
om...
[snip]
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can
and wisdom always to tell the difference.
(Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.)

Actually, it is usually attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr. Although
there is some suggestion that it is a translation of a german prayer.

I think you are missing a comma there. Instead of "God grant me...", it
should be "God, grant me..."

I'm not missing a comma. Kurt VonnegutJr. is. Take it up with him.

Ian

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to
change the things I can, and wisdom to bury the bodies of those *******s who
****ed me off so much I had to KILL them. ;-)

"Ian" wrote in message
m...
(me) wrote in message
. com...
(Ian) wrote in message
om...
[snip]
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can
and wisdom always to tell the difference.
(Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.)

Actually, it is usually attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr. Although
there is some suggestion that it is a translation of a german prayer.

In that case, Kurt Vonnegut JR. failed to attribute the words to
Reinhold Niebuhr. Take it up with him. I just happen to think the
sentiment is a nice one and I found it in Slaughterhouse 5. I am a
better person for having been put straight.
Ian

BTW, is it obligatory in the US that all sour-faced people can only
get jobs at airports? For a country famed for its service culture, a
little of that service would be nice to see after a 10 hour flight.

Sometimes these guys are a lot smarter than you think. I remember returning
once from Hong Kong some years ago where I had purchased a knock off Rolex on
the street for $30.00.

I certainly didn't want to claim it on my customs form as real and pay the duty
and I didn't want to claim it as fake since there were probably some copyright
infringements to contend with. I opted not to claim it at all and just wore it
through the customs inspection station wearing a sport coat which hid the
watch. The customs agent was very amicable during the bag searching phase and
we chatted and joked about some common interests we had. At the conclusion of
the inspection he said I was free to go then, at
the last second as I was leaving, he asked me if I knew what time it was.
Without thinking I pulled up my sleeve exposing the watch and gave him the
correct time then, in horror, realized my mistake. I was expecting the worst
but he just smiled and thanked me as I went on my way. A subtle way of letting
me know he was well aware of what I was doing but didn't care to hassle me
about it.

As far as immigration officers are concerned, my rule of thumb is to always
choose the oldest agent if you have a choice. They usually have the most
experience and are not trying to make a name for themselves like the new guys.

Having travelled to many countries, some of which were at political odds with
the US, I must say that my most difficult border crossing was driving from
Canada into the US in a rental car. The wet behind the ears US immigration
agent seemed to want to question me about every stamp in my passport. Took
about 15 minutes before he finally let me through.

Jerry in LAS

"Jaybee727" wrote in message
...
BTW, is it obligatory in the US that all sour-faced people can only
get jobs at airports? For a country famed for its service culture, a
little of that service would be nice to see after a 10 hour flight.

Sometimes these guys are a lot smarter than you think. I remember
returning
once from Hong Kong some years ago where I had purchased a knock off Rolex
on
the street for $30.00.

I certainly didn't want to claim it on my customs form as real and pay the
duty
and I didn't want to claim it as fake since there were probably some
copyright
infringements to contend with.

This is an interesting point. BTW, it's trademark, not copyright, that's
implicated by a knock-off. I have a handout from Customs that says you are
allowed to import one knock-off (per item) if it's for personal,
non-commercial use. I'm not aware of any particular regulation which
permits this -- I suspect that it's an administrative rule for Customs,
because it's certainly not in the Lanham Act. However, knock-offs are not
illegal per se. It's only introducing them into commerce which violates the
law. This is different from patent, in which mere manufacture results
infringement, and copyright, which is, of course, infringed as soon as an
authorized copy is made. It's perfectly legal to own a knock-off Rolex. It
isn't to sell it, however.

Quick funny story: I was in Hong Kong once with an associate. A street
vendor approached my associate and said, "Want to buy a Rolex? $35." My
associate asked, "Is it a real Rolex?" The vendor looked perplexed and
said, "Why would you want a real Rolex?"

I opted not to claim it at all and just wore it
through the customs inspection station wearing a sport coat which hid the
watch. The customs agent was very amicable during the bag searching phase
and
we chatted and joked about some common interests we had. At the conclusion
of
the inspection he said I was free to go then, at
the last second as I was leaving, he asked me if I knew what time it was.
Without thinking I pulled up my sleeve exposing the watch and gave him the
correct time then, in horror, realized my mistake. I was expecting the
worst
but he just smiled and thanked me as I went on my way. A subtle way of
letting
me know he was well aware of what I was doing but didn't care to hassle me
about it.

I know, personally, people who have bought relatively expensive watches
overseas, wore them home, and never were questioned about it.

FWIW, I've never had my bags inspected, and I go overseas 2 or 3 times a
year. My secret is this: I declare everything, and keep meticulous records.
Because I always travel with my laptop, before returning I spend an hour or
so creating an Excel spread sheet which lists each item, the purchase amount
in local currency, the value in US dollars, and the conversion rate applied.
I fax the spread sheet to my hotel's fax machine so that I have a hard copy
to give the customs inspector.

I always get amused looks of appreciation from the inspectors when I hand
them this thing. They then pore over it, looking to exclude as many
non-dutiable items as possible. They've never looked in my bags, and are
always very helpful in bringing down the amount of duty, if any, that I'll
have to pay (we almost always go over our allotment).


As far as immigration officers are concerned, my rule of thumb is to
always
choose the oldest agent if you have a choice. They usually have the most
experience and are not trying to make a name for themselves like the new
guys.

I've never had any trouble with any of them. Now, INS is another story.
These folks always seem to be humorless and hostile.


Having travelled to many countries, some of which were at political odds
with
the US, I must say that my most difficult border crossing was driving from
Canada into the US in a rental car. The wet behind the ears US immigration
agent seemed to want to question me about every stamp in my passport. Took
about 15 minutes before he finally let me through.

Jerry in LAS