Customs Tricks (was: Re: Whoohoo! Fortune Telling...

From: Philip.Belben_at_pgen.com <(Philip.Belben_at_pgen.com)>
Date: Mon Nov 15 11:13:26 1999

> I stepped outside and everything but the steering wheel & seat were removed
> from my truck... including the contents of the glove compartment & other
> places of "personal" storage.
>
> [[Editor's note - I'm not just picking on Canadian Customs - Years ago
> (when I was an infant, so that's ~30 years ago) my parents were coming back
> into the US when US customs stopped them, tore the car apart *including the
> seats*. When they were all done, they said "You can go. You have 15 minutes
> to be out of the building." *thankfully* my dad is one hell of a mechanic
> and had a full toolset with him and could reinstall the seats in a few
> minutes - despite the fact the tools were spread in a 10 foot radius around
> the car. No joke.]]
>
> Customs can be your friend, or they can be the most sadistic bastards
> you've ever known. Be nice to them even if they're assholes - or you'll
> regret it if you do any border crossing at all.

I've never had it that bad. The worst time for me was at Strasbourg, crossing
from Germany to France (whatever happened to European free trade?) in 1995.
Bored customs officer + loaded estate car (station wagon) with GB plates =
obvious result. They didn't take the computer junk out of the car but insisted
on going through all my suitcases and asking silly questions - I speak very
little French or German and they spoke even less English, so how they expected
to understand my replies I am not sure.

Example of silly question: they find a (German) hymn book (FWIW I also collect
hymn books) and ask if I am a priest, and try to persuade me to sing something
from it.

I eventually got away when they asked me if I was a spy, and I said yes...

>>I only ever got lucky once and got a girl I use to go to school with... wish
>>I had a Picasso in the car that day :-(
>
> You can *afford* a Picasso? You must have one hell of a computer collection!!!
> ;-)

No, he imports them for rich clients who pay virtually no commission. If he had
had one when he met his friend he could have pocketed the import duty and made a
profit for once ... ;-)

Philip.






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Received on Mon Nov 15 1999 - 11:13:26 GMT