>
>Canadian Customs well deserves the putdown. I am a Canadian and every time
>I return to this country Customs acts like the imperious little people they
>are. On one recent occasion I returned by air from Spokane, cleared at the
>booth but then was stopped by an agent on the way to the exit. Demanding to
>see the customs card for my OM-1. As the trip had been rushed I hadn't gone
>down to preclear my camera so carried the original bill of sale ( with
>serial nos). I was informed that if he wanted he could seize the camera as
>the bill of sale was not "acceptable". Not wanting a confrontation I did
>the sweet smiley, smiley and after enduring his lecture left with my
>camera. This is but one of many "horror" stories with Canadian Customs that
>I have personally experienced. I think they take a special course on how to
>be ignorant -- especially to returning Canadians.
>Barry
>
I have travelled to Canada mostly by car from NYC many times with never a
problem.
However I first flew to Montreal when I was 16; the first real 'travel' i had
ever done. I was almost not allowed in the country. I don't know if they
thought I was a hippie, or a poor worker, or whatever. I was taken into a room
and interrogated. They insisted I could not be merely a sightseer. I was
grilled about having a girlfriend repeatedly; I was asked how much money I had
and I had to produce it. Anyway they were unfailingly polite and I am unsure to
this day as to why I was singled out; I suppose my youth.
I also had similar experiences coming back to the US. When we were very young,
we never had a problem in a rent-a-car. When I started to get wealthy(!) and
had my own car (an old beat-up rusted Kharmann Ghia with a fuzzy steering wheel
and a flat spot in the starter) our car got searched pretty good. Of course it
wouldn't start afterwards and there I was pushing it out of Customs while the
wife popped the clutch!
Ah, the joys of impecunious youth!
________________________________
Regards,
Denton Taylor
Photogallery at www.dentontaylor.com.
Panoramas and Immersive Imaging at
www.threehundredsixty.com
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