Worst/Best 'terminal experience'

[wasabi]

After watching the movie “The Terminal” starring Tom Hanks, I remembered my worst ‘terminal experience’ in Vancouver 4 years ago, when I was in my second year of uni.

I posted an article in my website, and would like to share the conversation that I had with the custom officer, the morning that I arrived Vancouver.

After transited in 2 cities, I was tired, and irritated.
I was glad that I got a free ticket to travel all the way to Canada, but the first thing I encounter was BAD…

Custom(C) Wasabi (W)

C: What’s the purpose of your traveling?
W: (tried to hold a simile after 12 hours of flight) tour-sightseeing.
C: What’s your occupation?
W: University student (hm….it is on the inboard card, can’t you read??)
C: How come you are only staying here for 4 days?
W: Because my semester is starting soon, and I just have 5 days of holiday left. (This was an extremely stupid excuse, although that I was telling the truth!)
C: Ok, come with me.

So I had to go through a ‘major’ baggage checking. Everything was threw out,; contact solution was squeezed out to check it was only ‘contact lens solution’, they checked my iron tablets bottle, my vitamin C’s…etc. It was a real terrible feeling to have some stranger going through my personal things.

Questions and checking went for about 45 minutes.



Anyway, of course I was clear to go. The rest of the trip went ok, but it just didn’t turn out as good as I expected. Although that wasn't the first time that I travelled by myself, but holding an Aussie passport and got treated like that...I guess it was only for safety, and seriously, I don't do drugs, and not intending to do so!!!My friends laguhed at me after they heard the stroy, they said that I am such a 'goodie goodie'...and that's why the cutoms had a sudden 'check up'. Yeah, so kind of friend!

Have you had any ‘terminal experience?’ Worst or best ones?

PS, strongly recommended to go and see the movie.

[Somebody Else]

Can't remember one off-hand about myself - but my father once visited America, and because he was born in Hong Kong, he had to write that on a form of some sort. He was stopped by a customs official who was worked up about this - he wanted to know "Hong Kong, where?" which, admittedly, somewhat confused my father - monumental idiocy of that sort is just not to be expected. Eventually it was sorted out - my father maintained that it was Hong Kon, Hong Kong - what else could it be? I think the obdurate customs official decided it was Hong Kong, Asia or something. But not until after several hours of pointless debate.

[thrashaholic]

I've had a couple of scary experiences at an airport:

The first was in Gatwick where I'd just gone through the metal detectors and the police were conducting random sniffer-dog searches of people's bags just after. Anyway the police asked me to "stop, take off my bag, put it down and step away", I obliged and took a step back, the dog did it's sniffing on my bag, but then lept straight up at me. I was the scariest thing to happen to me in my life, I was so worried the police would think I had drugs on me (which I didn't). I suppose the dog didn't jump up in right way because nothing came of it, the police just apologised and let me go on my way, but it was bally scary.

The second happenned to me in Frankfurt airport after having visited my dad there. I was taking a DVD player back to the UK in my hand luggage, but German customs didn't particularly like it (even though I'm an EU resident travelling within the EU), they decided that they would send me over to some customs official who couldn't speak English and had to scan it with some special machine. It was all terribly confusing and time-consuming, and all over one little DVD player, oh well, that's life....

[Somebody Else]

The second happenned to me in Frankfurt airport after having visited my dad there. I was taking a DVD player back to the UK in my hand luggage, but German customs didn't particularly like it (even though I'm an EU resident travelling within the EU), they decided that they would send me over to some customs official who couldn't speak English and had to scan it with some special machine. It was all terribly confusing and time-consuming, and all over one little DVD player, oh well, that's life....

They might have been checking it for explosives... I've had laptops and things checked for that before - they have a little swab, which they wipe over it - and stick in a machine - I suppose it picks up traces of chemicals or whatever. I would imagine the DVD player was checked like this, as it would have been difficult to check that is was a functioning DVD player? Or was it a portable? Regardless - there's a lot of empty space in electronic devices these days - just enough for a few grammes of semtex or whatever.

[ah_dut]

i've had my deodrant taken apart because it might be an explosive which kinda pissed me off.

[Somebody Else]

Thought I might post a good one...

Reasons to know people in the airport...

1. Ah, hello there, step this way - no need to queue there, come to the first class section.
2. You're 13 kilos overweight. Nevermind.
3. The flight appears to be fully booked, we'll have to move you up a class.