“Welcome back,” is what the young customs official with the gel-styled front spoiler hairdo finally did say. But before that, he took my 1998 US passport and asked a few probing questions.Â
Critically: “What were you – what are you doing in Switzerland?”Â
“I live there. I work there.”Â
Suspiciously, waving my passport: “How did you get this one?”Â
“My mother is American.”Â
Looking at the passport: “What happened to the hair?”Â
I think I took that one with good humor, but mostly a great deal of bewilderment. What does he ask the women fresh off a long-haul flight? Does he quiz them on their wrinkles? Is my thinning hair really a US security issue? Shouldn’t he have questioned me about the food I said I was carrying instead?Â
Welcome back indeed.Â
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When I returned from Japan I received a warm welcome as well: The man directing people to various customs lines was swearing up a storm as he chatted with his friend. Having been illiterate in a foreign country for a year I was suddenly aware of how intimidating it must be to come to the US. The signs were poor and only in English. I didn’t feel welcome at all and it was my own country! Compare that with Switzerland where they didn’t even look at my passport! Not exactly a warm welcome, but it didn’t make me fee criminal.
I’d say it’s not surprising if you come in through New York City, where the Statue of Liberty is the most welcoming face you’ll see — except that when we were lost in NYC all three people we asked for directions (one Hispanic, one black, one Italian, to show the city’s diversity) were very friendly and tried to be helpful, clean contrary to my prejudiced opinion of city-dwellers (especially in New York). (The fact that none of their advice actually was helpful is another issue.) But comments about hair are not fair! The same official probably quizzes the women on weight gain or loss since the passport picture was taken. On a bad day, anyway.
Same thing happened to me too. Except instead of commenting on my thinning hair, the critical official (suspecting everybody of being Bin Laden in disguise) “joked” that the photo was rather old…