The land of the free....

Spot on Sel

probably won"t be able to use it much as it will be removed .

One should not always believe "what one hears".

I watch the Australian Immigration programme & they can be pretty tough at times . Mind you usually with good reason .

Doesn"t the Huffington post buy stuff for publication ?

if that ^ IS ^ the case surely things have to be "sexed up " to quote Teflon"s advisor Campbell

I wasn't made to feel welcome when I visited your country by customs.I wasn't even looked in the face when spoken to and was ask how long I was staying and where is my ticket showing when I was leaving.

Oh, everyone wants to know when you're leaving! I was asked that in the US. It's a normal question and not rude.

Like many of the others who have posted, have been to the States many times never had any problems, yes they do want to know when you are leaving and ask you to give an address where you are staying perfectly acceptable questions. Did find security was very lax on internal flights before 9/11, understandably quite different now which frankly is reassuring.

bags. So true. I fly to the USA 2-3 times a year to see my children and I've been asked to produce my return ticket on a number of occasions. One occasion I was asked how many dollars I had on me and how did I expect that amount to get me through my stay. I said my daughter will keep me, it's her turn! And the lines are so long especially at Dallas airport and I suspect at others. The customs officials are not the most friendliest I agree but they have a job to do.

I think on the whole American officials are more polite than English. They still accept that serving the public well isn't an expression of servility. The man who set up EuroDisney was interviewed on radio recently and said that he had a real problem with a rapid turnover of (European) staff who just couldn't accept the 'service with a smile' ethos.

Yeah, well, Europe has a long history of snooty buggers looking down their noses as plebs. I expect that makes a difference. Though I have to say that in Scotland people are usually very pleasant about 'service'. [saltire] [lionrampant]

Better not forget a [thistle]

at not as

Never, ever any problems over the years we have visited the USA. Courteous, efficient officials and friendly people. Love it!

I have absolutely no criticism of the average US citizen and I am glad you have all had such good experiences. However, I am puzzled, because I have found story after story of people who have met rude, aggressive and unreasonable immigration officials. Are they all lies? Or perhaps these officials were the proverbial rotten apples in the barrel, like all the police officers in the UK who have been found to be racist, homophobic or corrupt.

where have you found theses "stories" ???????????

I think the temptation is to talk about 'the US' - it varies enormously state by state. My OH is American, from the North East and he says he feels nervous in some of the Southern states. Still a bit of the 'Deliverance' mentality in places I think. He managed Scotland without any problems

I'm not as well travelled as many gransnetters appear to be. I've only been to the US twice. The first time was about 18 years ago when we took my son and his best friend to Florida. We went via Bangor, Maine and had to go through customs there first and then again in Orlando. My husband had taken a few non-fiction books (he always does this when we go on holiday and seldom looks at them). He was rigorously quizzed about it in Maine - was he intending to work in the US? etc,., etc.. They were very intimidating.

The second time was a couple of years ago when I went with a a group to celebrate my friend's 60th birthday in New York. The customs people weren't so intimidating but they were absolutely blank faced.

Having said that, I found most of the people we met to be very pleasant and friendly, and service in hotels, restaurants, bars and on public transport was usually excellent (apart from a cruise on the Hudson where we had a ghastly meal, were charged $35 for a bottle of wine and were finally turfed off after about 2 hours to make way for the next "sitting".

Sel,I do hope your OH hasn't had anything bad happen to him.That said Deliverance was just a movie like Easy Rider and made to shock people.I have never heard of anything like that actually happening.There are mean and crazy people anywhere especially when you ad liquor or drugs to the mix.That home made liquor can make you go blind and damage your brain.

It would be really helpful greatnan if you could put a link to some of the stories thatvyou have found. As Enviousamerican lives there she might be able to put them in context. Like the majority of people on this thread I have no complaints at all about the U.S. customs and have enjoyed the friendliness and courtesy.

prism-magazine.com/

Try googling 'American Civil Liberties Groups' and you will find dozens of reports of rude, aggressive and unreasonable behaviour by immigration officials. I am surprised that I appear to be the only member who had heard of these.
This is not a criticism of individual Americans - the ones I have known have been extremely pleasant, courteous and hospitable. However, their is undoubted racial prejudice in the judicial system (as there is to a lesser extent in Britain - young black men are still twice as likely to be stopped and searched as their white peers.)

What is not clear in the article is the authors ethnicity. I would suggest that she wasn't a WASP and it was her colour that led to this unacceptable behaviour.

Recent photo

Clay Nikiforuk

Call me old fashioned but was it really necessary for her to carry condoms in her luggage? Could she not have bought some when she reached her destination? It does rather smack of, 'I'm so attractive, desirable, independant, sexually alluring, I simply must be prepared at all times.

I believe she is a lesbian and a feminist writer.

Oh right. Now I'm really

I have had a very sheltered life. Why would a lesbian need condoms?