I used to regularly attend a 3 day industry conference in Fort Lauderdale in January. One year they had a moderated discussion about customer service and I was invited to give an outsiders opinion. I told them that as far as I was concerned in Europe we had a lot to learn from the USA and it would be hard to change our culture when young kids didn’t see enough of great service growing up. Someone asked why I though they got it right in the US? Struggling to answer I quipped that it was probably because the US had taken all the people with no interpersonal skills whatsoever out of the normal economy and put them on the front line of the immigration service. The mainly US audience gave me a round of applause.
Very true unfortunately.
Although easily the rudest/weirdest experience I've had at immigration/customs occurred in Sydney,NS when going through customs on the way to Cabot.
While they were going through a needless, rude interrogation of the 8 of us, the only 8 in the airport(rather than just searching our bags which would've been way faster) they had left our golf bags out on the tarmac in a massive downpour, which penetrated every part of my well covered bag.
Over the recent holidays, going into Canada was a breeze, gettting back into the US involved spending a bit of time in a holding room with 30 other scary looking
skiing families and their kids.
Perhaps they should be paid on a confiscation per detention ratio.
My theory is that in the US they profile and detain the least threatening looking people, because it's easier,and they won't get accused of profiling.
My take on the situation was that with about a 20% illegal alien workforce where I live, perhaps our efforts might be spent on a different border.
Mark,
I'm not accusing the UK of profiling, I'm suggesting it.
If we go back over the past 20 years of airline terror, how many were middle aged white men in golf sweater vests?
When playing golf in Donegal,one has many choices if heading out to Carne, Slgo,Narin, etc.
Shannon and Dublin aren't much farther than Belfast,and there's always Donegal Airport or Sligo Airport.
The drivers I've had (some from NI, others from Ireland) were repeatedly disgusted with the Belfast process,
In one instance, I left a small carry bag not 15 feet from the door while helping others with their bags.
The 4 officials I spoke to dismissed me repeatedly and rudely(it was in plain sight 15 feet away), then told me they'd deal with it after lunch.
There was no one else left in the airport.
Ultimately,after they'd had their 20 minute power surge,(where if there was any danger you'd think they would have stopped their casual coffee conversation and moved away from the threat) our driver negotiated a truce and the bag was retrieved in 15 seconds.
Terror threat averted
