Re: funny item from life after coffee ( oracle blog )

gazzag wrote:
> hpuxrac wrote:
> In all seriousness, just how agressive is airport security in the
> States these days? My girlfriend and I are plannning a holiday towards
> the end of the year and, as I have never been to the States, we were
> contemplating a trip over the pond. Having said that, the story of a
> guy I work with who was finger-printed as soon as he stepped onto US
> soil, as well as having his bag forcibly opened without him even being
> present was starting to put me off. Then, another friend of mine
> returning from Disney World with his kids told me how his fifteen
> year-old terrified son was "interviewed" for two hours away from his
> parents. It's kind of put me off...

I'm visiting USA each year and I never had a serious problem. As long as I was able to avoid Chinese Americans in uniforms, everything was all right. It looks like US citizenship is not a cure for these people from their nation's passion for strict rules, extensive paperwork and overwhelming self importance of uniformed oficials. A general American on an official duty is usually sensible and much less strict than his colleagues from Germany, Switzerland or even (god save us!) Austria. At the end of the day, everything depends on the people on both sides of the desk. If you will be unlucky and have to deal with some guy of sub-average qualities and inflated self importance, there's gonna be a problem.

It remind me a related quote from Eddings' The Losers: "Isn't it a comfort to know that some little froth-head who spent her college years
on her back and graduated with a solid C-minus average has absolute power over your life?"

> We're contemplating going to Cuba instead. And I *definitely* won't be
> running the gauntlet with US Immigration with that stamp on my
> passport, I can tell you!

Visiting of Cuba is not a really wise choice, if you do not like a state oppression. That's the country where turists are actually send to a prison for taking unappropriate pictures or talking to the wrong people.

--
Dusan Bolek