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...me neither

Pascal avatar ... I thought I was the only one asking myself the question that Aubrey asked in the previous entry "I don't understand".

Me, they ask the question when I leave (in this case asking where I go) and when I arrive. This is totally weird given that the information is already written on the boarding pass which they also get. A couple of times recently this has pissed me so much that I got angry at the border officers and told them things that could have justified them arresting me for the night.

I have few theories on why they cannot just check my passport and let me go and why they have to check the sound of my voice in a way or another, but I don't know which is the correct one. This said, I noticed that all the times they didn't ask me were when I said "hello" to them when I was handing my passport. This is statistically consistent with the idea that they need to hear the sound of your voice more than they actually want to know where you come from or where you are going. In my case maybe they simply want to check that I speak with a French accent, as if this would make my French passport less of a fake....

I decided that I would turn into my favorite pastime the activity of politely insulting Border Officers (when I travel) and Head Hunters (when I receive unsolicited emails from them about random "opportunities"), the two categories of people who annoy me the most in this moment.

Pascal @ 2010-Feb-02, 23:24:42 - General - - permalink

I don't understand

Aubrey avatar I flew back to London Heathrow this evening. When I saw a long queue in the UK border counter, I told myself "ok, Aubrey, be patient, this is Heathrow airport, one of the busiest airport in this world. It may be a good time for you to read your book". When I eventually came to the counter, the guy of border agency asked me "where you came from?", I stopped for a second. The following answers came to my brain:

1.I came from Amsterdam. I just took a plane from Amsterdam to London.
2.I came from Hong Kong and started to live in the UK few years ago.
3.I came from my mother's abdomen.
4.I came from the earth.

According to my experience, the officials in border agency always asked where you took the plane and fly to London. So I went to the first answer and told him "Amsterdam". Then he smiled and went on asking some questions about my passport. I just don't understand why people ask this question. It is so obvious that you can find it on my ticket. If you want to check whether I am using a fake passport, you should ask other questions but not "where you came from". I just don't understand at all.


Aubrey @ 2010-Feb-02, 21:35:36 - General - - permalink
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