Little anti-American rant

[Dottore]

Note: This is neither political nor religious. Merely descriptive.

So my wife and I arrive at the Canada/US border crossing today mid-morning. She is a permanent resident, both of us have been security cleared by Nexus, but because she travels on a German Passport, she needs a US visa.

We go into the visa hut, which is a squalid little room that stinks of perspiration and coffee (at the Vancouver/Blaine border crossing) There are ten processing terminals, only one of which is occupied by CBP official. The other terminals are empty. There are about 10 people in front of us, but an endless line-up of cars, and within 15 minutes there must be a hundred people lined up behind us waiting for a visa. And still only one terminal is occupied.

The other CBP guys are all lounging in the background, in the cubicle farm, joking, drinking coffees, and flirting with the one (heavily pregnant) female officer. All of them move in slow motion. One guy is reading a paperback novel. They frequently swagger past the empty terminals, daring those waiting to protest at the manner in which they are being treated.

The waiting tourists are mainly vacationing Europeans. The Germans behind us can’t believe what is happening. Eventually one of them yells at one of the CBP guys, “can vee get zum service here?” The CBP guys swaggers over and says “one more word out of you and you can go back wherever you came from”. I try to calm the German down, because he simply can’t believe the callous arrogance of the CBP pricks. Its an incredible scene.

After about 40 minutes, the room is seething and bursting at the seams. Everyone is contemplating violence. Children cry. They need bathrooms. We are told, there are no bathrooms at the border for "security reasons". The German goes ape-****. “You zink vee will blow up ze toilet?” he asks a CBP guy rhetorically, and the CBP guy replies by briefly putting his hand on his Glock.

Eventually, two more CBP guys man terminals, so now 3 out of 10 are “working”—but not really. Not one of these guys can type. Single finger —all of them. It’s amazing to watch. These guys process data for a living but they cannot type. Only hen-peck with one finger. And all of them—to a man—are unspeakably rude, arrogant, dumb and fat. It is a scene right out of Bizarro World.

A Chinese woman’s cell phone now rings. She answers, and almost gets her head taken off by one of these goons, because cell phones are not allowed for “security reasons”. She freaks out, and puts it away, and five minutes later it rings again. This time the goon confiscates the phone. What frigging security reasons? The Chinese woman is now weeping loudly, and the German behind me is about to go ballistic. Then we get called up for processing, and experience one of the biggest arseholes I have ever seen holding down a menial job. Anywhere. I cannot begin to describe the depth of his depravity, incompetence and anger. All in all we were there just shy of 90 minutes. The people behind us will have been there for several hours.

In the entire time we were there, there was not a smile, not a helpful comment, not the slightest hint of urgency on the part of any one of these guys. Just this deep contempt and arrogance.

In a lifetime of crossing borders, I have only come across bigger arseholes once, and that was at the Greek/Albanian border when Enver Hoxna was still in power. Inefficient, arrogant, power-mad, stupid, insane, Neanderthal—these words don’t even begin to describe these guys. The only reason we restrained ourselves was because we knew that if we complained these freaks would confiscate our NEXUS cards.

And this is the first impression many visitors have of America.

I weep for this land.

End of rant.

[Jagshund]

Originally Posted by Dottore

I weep for this land.

Right there with you . . . every day. I'll stop now so this thread doesn't go 'there.'

[Joeaksa]

They were the same with my German ex-wife. Fat ugly beyotch started grilling her asking how could she guarantee that she was not going to stay in America even though she had a round trip ticket and letter from her boss stating that she was going over for a medical conference.

Finally my wife, the heart transplant surgeon, gets pissed of and says "I make 10 times the money you do at my job in Germany and over there we have professionals working at the border so that we do not have to put up with crap like this. I want to see your supervisor!"

The fat beyotch backs up a bit, says something to the wife and stamps her passport and tells her to leave before she arrests her. She would have had a fight on her hands...

For one I totally agree with you and this does need to change. Some of them seem as if they have an attitude from the first minute they get to work and thats not the face that visiting foreigners need to see.

[lendaddy]

Menial government work destroys the soul, 80% of the people I work with are disgustingly rude to the citizens because they hate their jobs. There is something inherently soul crushing about an atmosphere where there is no motivation to improve anything and the future is cast in stone.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Dottore

Note: This is neither political nor religious. Merely descriptive.

So my wife and I arrive at the Canada/US border crossing today mid-morning. She is a permanent resident, both of us have been security cleared by Nexus, but because she travels on a German Passport, she needs a US visa.

We go into the visa hut, which is a squalid little rooms that stinks of perspiration and coffee (at the Vancouver/Blaine border crossing) There are ten processing terminals, one of which is occupied by CBP official. There are about 10 people in front of us, but an endless line up of cars, and within 15 minutes there must be a hundred people lined up behind us waiting for a visa. And still only one terminal occupied.

The other guys are all lounging in the background, in the cubicle farm, joking, drinking coffees, and flirting with the one (heavily pregnant) female officer. All of them move in slow motion. One guy is reading a paperback novel. They frequently swagger past the terminals, daring those waiting to protest at the manner in which they are being treated.

The waiting tourists are mainly vacationing Europeans. The Germans behind us can’t believe what is happening. Eventually one of them yells at one of the CBP guys, “can vee get zum service here?” The CBP guys swaggers over and says “one more word out of you and you can go back wherever you came from”. I try to calm the German down, because he simply can’t believe the callous arrogance of the CBP pricks. Its an incredible scene.

After about 40 minutes, the room is seething and bursting at the seams. Everyone is contemplating violence. Children cry. They need bathrooms. We are told, there are no bathrooms at the border for "security reasons". The German goes ape-****. “You zink vee will blow up ze toilet?” he asks a CBP guy rhetorically, and the CBP guy replies by briefly putting his hand on his Glock.

Eventually, two more CBP guys man terminals, so now 3 out of 10 are “working”—but not really. Not one of these guys can type. Single finger —all of them. It’s amazing to watch. These guys process data for a living but they cannot type. All of them—to a man—are unspeakable rude, arrogant, dumb and fat. It is a scene right out of Bizarro World.

A Chinese woman’s cell phone now rings. She answers, and almost gets her head taken off by one of these goons, because cell phones are not allowed for “security reasons”. She freaks out, and puts it away, and five minutes later it rings again. This time the goon confiscates the phone. What frigging security reasons? The Chinese woman is now weeping loudly, and the German behind me is about to go ballistic. Then we get called up for processing, and experience one of the biggest arseholes I have ever seen holding down a menial job. Anywhere. I cannot being to describe the depth of his incompetence and anger. All in all we were there just shy of 90 minutes. The people behind us will have been there for several hours.

In the entire time we were there, there was not a smile, not a helpful comment, not the slightest hint of urgency on the part of any one of these guys. Just this deep contempt and arrogance.

In a lifetime of crossing borders, I have only come across bigger arseholes once, and that was at the Greek/Albanian border when Enver Hoxna was still in power. Inefficient, arrogant, power-mad, stupid, insane, Neanderthal—these words don’t even begin to describe these guys. The only reason we restrained ourselves was because we knew that if we complained these freaks would confiscate our NEXUS cards.

And this is the first impression many visitors have of America.

I weep for this land.

End of rant.

Sounds like any Philadelphia government worker, to be honest.

I HATE the overwhelming majority of our "civil" servants. They are scumridden underqualified bums with absolute blanket job security, and that is exactly how they act, at least around here.

GRRRRRR

PS: I say this with 100% sincerity, it is a shame that the idiot cop that put his hand on his glock didn't shoot himself with it right then and there.

[Gogar]

Are border agents unionized? Let me guess.

[John Rogers]

If this is the case I am surprised no one has run a hidden camera/microphone through one of these sessions and then blasted it all over the air/internet??!!

[wdfifteen]

Coming back through the border has been the worst, most demeaning part of almost every overseas trip. One time one male officer was acting like a jerk and I whispered, "Welcome home to America" a little too loudly to my companion. He have me a ration of shhheet and we ended up at the back of the line. It's bad management and bad supervision. If management had a will to make the border officers treat people with respect they could do it.

[nostatic]

This is why I just hop the fence...

[quicksix]

I have a friend who works IT for a local county. He came from the private sector where productivity is expected or you are out the door. He tells me he works about 2 hours a day and the rest is spent trying to look busy and everybody else is the same way.He is after the retirement plan,and is willing to sacrifice his happiness to get it. Bizarre.

[Tervuren]

I think they need a little less job security - shape up, or ship out. It seems a lot of government jobs, once you're hired, you're set. Even if its a temporary job, it somehow becomes *permanent*. And government grows and grows....

[Shoepop]

Originally Posted by john rogers

If this is the case I am surprised no one has run a hidden camera/microphone through one of these sessions and then blasted it all over the air/internet??!!

Problem is it wouldn't change a thing, when is the last time you heard of someone working for the gov get their ass canned?

[red-beard]

Lets see, in Bombay, I couldn't get a visa for France, because the Consul went home for lunch with his mistress and wasn't going to be back for the afternoon.

Most of the time I've dealt with CBP, they've been very good. The only recent problem I've had was when Global Entry was brand new (less than a week old) and the guy behind the desk checked me in a second time. CBP at Houston is always very good.

My 1st wife was always getting pulled apart at customs. But I have to say, she fit the drug mule profile: Fake blond, early 20's, etc.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Sounds like the DMV. And people wonder why we're scared of govt run healthcare.....

[imcarthur]

I use the iris machine in Toronto airport to bypass them. But in February, I took my wife so we went to the Canadian side of the US airport goons. The agent (a women - avoid the female agents if possible btw) threatened to pull my Nexus pass because food was not ticked off on the form. My wife brought peanuts & jujubes for the plane trip . . .

They are typically sub-human Neanderthals imho.

Ian

[sc_rufctr]

Stop and think for a minute. Don't just rant on about public servants etc.

Maybe they do this on purpose... That is try to aggravate the waiting "tourists".

OK, Question time. Why would Customs officials do this?

[quicksix]

When I was sixteen I got a Part time job with U.P.S. unloading trucks.Good pay for manual labor.I was determined to do my best and busted my a$$ to make my mark and get promoted.Worked my way up to the "small sort", pakages under 5lbs. My 3rd day there a guy thats been there like 10 years starts watching me. I think,cool, I am making a good impression.After about 10 minutes this guy pulls me aside and says to me "What are you doing?" I say "trying to do a good job" and he replies " you are making the rest of us look bad" Welcome to the union world.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Sounds like the DMV. And people wonder why we're scared of govt run healthcare.....

I am VERY lucky, my local DMV and property tax office are right next to eachother, and they have supervisors that are on top of things making sure things are going smoothly. So long as you remembered to bring everything you need, you are set. Not an unpleasant experience at all.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Stop and think for a minute. Don't just rant on about public servants etc.

Maybe they do this on purpose... That is try to aggravate the waiting "tourists".

OK, Question time. Why would Customs officials do this?

The only reason i can think of is they don't want us coming back home. Seems a little short sighted, since my tax dollars pay their salaries.
I usually return through Detroit or Atlanta. They are both terribly disorganized and the employees seem very fearful. They act like they expect to be overrun at any minute.

[ODDJOB UNO]

im on numba 2 passport in my incredible "life road trip" and have crossed the canuck border numerous times with no problems either way. long haired bearded, short hair bearded, just short hair and a mustachio.


samo with the messikan border, in europa, barbados.



butt in hawaii sans mega scuba gear/cameras/etc, i must have set off the TILT-O-METER, man they came down on me like a ton of POO! after being total dorks about my 35 mm film canisters filled with..........you guessed it .......exposed film i got pissed. then the TILT-O-METER really got pegged and a whole squad of goons showed up(armed of course) and we had a POW-WOW. they wanted to know who i dove with(shop/boats), when i went diving, where i went diving blah blah. the freeking 3rd degree. wanted to see my scuba "C" (cert) card, drivers license, and all the time i am showing them my passport and have my gear strung out to holy high hell across the airport floor. this mind you was OSG(maui) and theres not a stinking critical military installation anywhere on that island worth a spit. let alone it was pretty damn obvious i wasnt smuggling osama bin laden out or any bricks of "maui -wowee".


total pricks and i will never forget their faces. this was post 9/11 and yes there was an "alert" for scuba divers due to alleged terrorists(the terror-the terror) SUPPOSEDLY taking scuba lessons and buying scuba gear up in the NE states(oregon/washington). have these guys surfaced yet? are they still down there unta-wata???



i ask all of you here and now.............DOES ALFRED E. NEWMAN(what me worry?)aka ODDJOB UNO EL JEFE GRANDE DE LA MAGNIFICO look like a freeking terrorist?



what a bunch of jerks. thanks OSG(maui) airport idiot morons/TSA for such a pleasant experience being in my home country going back to my home country with a freeking BRAND NEW STATE OF THE ART STATE DEPT FREEKING PASSPORT!


i had an easier time leaving europa right after the 1972 munchen(munich) olympic massacre than leaving maui. and security at frankfurter(frankfurt) WAS TIGHT AS A DRUM!