Oath of the Office of President.

[Woobie]

Well they did just that.

What reason did they give? Besides the smuggled Camembert, of course.

 

[Sylvain]

What reason did they give? Besides the smuggled Camembert, of course.

They suspected I would not leave even though I never overstayed during my past visits.It's apparently common.

 

[actaeon277]

They suspected I would not leave even though I never overstayed during my past visits.It's apparently common.

Oh. So PreCrime.

 

[Woobie]

They suspected I would not leave even though I never overstayed during my past visits.It's apparently common.

Oh, I see. So we can deport a Frenchman because we think he might stay a couple of extra days, but not someone who might set off a bomb at a sporting event. Makes perfect sense.

 

[Sylvain]

Oh. So PreCrime.

Yes, I had no way to prove I wasn't going to commit a crime in the future (how do you do that??) so I was deported on the spot.
All my belongins trashed (the airline had to buy me a new suitcase since the US customs officers crushed mine while it was technically under airline care) and my future flights canceled on my behalf (so no way to later ask for a refund).
Then dropped in a country where I had no plan to go, and no local currency once I got there to even buy food.

And they wonder why some foreigners hate America.I thought pissing someone off and putting him back on a plane with no escort was poor policy, some people could get violent.

Good thing my opinion of this country is based on the nice people I met and not the badge wearing *******s who work at the border.
They do not represnt America, only their government.

Sorry for the thread jack.

 

[Woobie]

Whoa, Sylvain. That is awful! As an American, I would like to apologize for the way you were treated. It's infuriating to think that was done on my behalf. I wish we could have deported that d-bag and kept you instead.

 

[actaeon277]

Yes, I had no way to prove I wasn't going to commit a crime in the future (how do you do that??) so I was deported on the spot.
All my belongins trashed (the airline had to buy me a new suitcase since the US customs officers crushed mine while it was technically under airline care) and my future flights canceled on my behalf (so no way to later ask for a refund).
Then dropped in a country where I had no plan to go, and no local currency once I got there to even buy food.

And they wonder why some foreigners hate America.I thought pissing someone off and putting him back on a plane with no escort was poor policy, some people could get violent.

Good thing my opinion of this country is based on the nice people I met and not the badge wearing *******s who work at the border.
They do not represnt America, only their government.

Sorry for the thread jack.

Too bad you didn't have my phone number.
Then again, I'd probably end up in jail for disagreeing with "the Man".

 

[Sylvain]

Whoa, Sylvain. That is awful! As an American, I would like to apologize for the way you were treated. It's infuriating to think that was done on my behalf. I wish we could have deported that d-bag and kept you instead.

Meh, it's to keep you safe!
There's even more to the story, not sure I will share on here, it was a pretty bad day.
The worst that my lady was waiting for me at the airport and she never got to see me, I had to beg an officer to let me call her to tell her she could go home.Otherwise she would have been waiting for me all day worrying until I could call her again from France.
Very long day too.I did Paris - Chicago, Chicago-Paris on the same day (even airline crews don't do that without rest).Lots of plane time for a day.

On my way back to Paris I was questioned by French custom officers, they wondered why everything in my bags was such a mess (documents torn apart, including a copy of the Bill of Rights ironically, clothes unfolded etc).
The US officers dropped the content of my bags on the floor multiple times to search them before putting me on the plane.
The French officers were shocked by the level of unprofessionalism of their US colleagues when I told them what happened.
They told me they don't do that here and even offered me a drink in their rest room.

 

[Sylvain]

Too bad you didn't have my phone number.
Then again, I'd probably end up in jail for disagreeing with "the Man".

They already complained I knew too much people here and could easily have stayed illegally.

Apparently they only let tourists in if they don't know any Americans and barely speak English (they complained my English was too good too lol).
They should have been glad I saved tax payer's money by not requesting a translator because no officer their spoke a second language, which is odd when your job is to deal with foreigners all day long.

 

[actaeon277]

Meh, it's to keep you safe!
There's even more to the story, not sure I will share on here, it was a pretty bad day.
The worst that my lady was waiting for me at the airport and she never got to see me, I had to beg an officer to let me call her to tell her she could go home.Otherwise she would have been waiting for me all day worrying until I could call her again from France.
Very long day too.I did Paris - Chicago, Chicago-Paris on the same day (even airline crews don't do that without rest).Lots of plane time for a day.

On my way back to Paris I was questioned by French custom officers, they wondered why everything in my bags was such a mess (documents torn apart, including a copy of the Bill of Rights ironically, clothes unfolded etc).
The US officers dropped the content of my bags on the floor multiple times to search them before putting me on the plane.
The French officers were shocked by the level of unprofessionalism of their US colleagues when I told them what happened.
They told me they don't do that here and even offered me a drink in their rest room.

They already complained I knew too much people here and could easily have stayed illegally.

Apparently they only let tourists in if they don't know any Americans and barely speak English (they complained my English was too good too lol).
They should have been glad I saved tax payer's money by not requesting a translator because no officer their spoke a second language, which is odd when your job is to deal with foreigners all day long.

Their level of "un"professionalism pisses me off also.
And, about a second language, how many languages are there on earth?
It's not like they're going to learn them all.
Now, if they were going to France, then I'd agree.

 

[Cameramonkey]

i have no problem with respecting an atheist not using a bible. Like you said it means nothing to them anyways. Also I know atheist that are very moral and good people.
i am not a practicing Christian but I am a Christian. I do know our country was founded on Christian platforms and that is good and I hope we always stay a Christian nation.

Please take the time to read The 5000 Year Leap. We are not founded on Christian platforms, but on natural law. (the 10 commandments minus the overtly religious ones) It just so happens that natural law aligns with the non religious commandments perfectly. (dont kill, etc)

or Muslims like obama

So if he's really muslim, why was he regularly attending Rev Wright's "christian" church? Not going to apologize for the man, (and I might have to think twice about peeing on him if he were on fire) but I do have to take issue with assigning an unfounded religious belief onto him. I doubt he is muslim, and more likely think he simply does not appreciate our country and its principles. I feel he is more soviet in thought than muslim.

 

[Sylvain]

Their level of "un"professionalism pisses me off also.
And, about a second language, how many languages are there on earth?
It's not like they're going to learn them all.
Now, if they were going to France, then I'd agree.

In France customs officers are expected to know 2 or 3 at least.
Knowing just one seems weird when you deal with foreigners all day, of course you can't know them all.

I asked an officer if he spoke any foreign languages (after they already decided to deport me so I didn't care about pissing them off).
He said he only spoke English and bad English.

 

[Woobie]

In France customs officers are expected to know 2 or 3 at least.
Knowing just one seems weird when you deal with foreigners all day, of course you can't know them all.

I asked an officer if he spoke any foreign languages (after they already decided to deport me so I didn't care about pissing them off).
He said he only spoke English and bad English.

What a joke.

One would think having a French speaker and Spanish speaker on hand would only make sense. Those are spoken by our two neighbors, and most of the hemisphere. French is familiar to much of Africa as well. But hey, who am I to tell bubba how to do his job.

 

[Sylvain]

What a joke.

One would think having a French speaker and Spanish speaker on hand would only make sense. Those are spoken by our two neighbors, and most of the hemisphere. French is familiar to much of Africa as well. But hey, who am I to tell bubba how to do his job.

I was detained with a few people from Africa who spoke only French, they officers had lots of trouble explaining to them that they were even detained and not allowed to leave the room.
It was a real circus.
They had to wait an hour to have a French speaking translator (French native woman by her accent) come and explain them the situation.
The officer couldn't even look up the phrase "You are being detained".
Even a monkey can type that on Google translate and show the translation to people.

There was also a poor old lady from Romania (probably being deported as whe tried to come in visit family in the states), she couldn't understand a world of English.
All the officer did was speak English slower to her, then kinda gave up on talking to her ...

After the way I was treated I didn't offer them my service to translate their English to French.
I would have been glad to help under other circonstances.
I often get to help foreign tourists in France, or I did that for a group of French tourists in the US one time.

In France if a flight comes from the US you can be sure that all the custom officers at the gate will be all speaking English.
If it comes from Spain you will have a few spanish speaker officers assigned to that gate.

In the US the expect you to speak English while at the same time telling you it's bad because it means you could more easily stay illegally in the country.

 

[Woobie]

Lol, if it weren't sad, it would be funny.

I spent a couple of weeks in Europe in 2001. Never had any trouble finding someone who spoke English.

 

[Sylvain]

Lol, if it weren't sad, it would be funny.

I spent a couple of weeks in Europe in 2001. Never had any trouble finding someone who spoke English.

I don't think you can work at any airport in Europe if you don't speak some English on top of your native language.

I had to laugh about it too otherwise I would have lost it and punch a few people in the face.

 

[Trigger Time]

Hopefully this gets resolved for you Sylvain so I can take you to a strip club

 

[Sylvain]

Hopefully this gets resolved for you Sylvain so I can take you to a strip club

lol awesome!
I think I still have a few one dollar bills around!

 

[Trigger Time]

lol awesome!
I think I still have a few one dollar bills around!

ill bring the ones, you bring yourself.

 

[actaeon277]

I would think, that international terminals would have translators for most languages. It's not like they need them at all the Podunk airports. Just the ones with international terminals.