Close encounters with another kind...

First he looked pissed off that I was coming back and earning a PhD. This was not the usual 'Aloha' I had gotten used to hearing in Hawaii. Then he told me to place 4 fingers on his little fingerprinting box. He also muttered to look at the camera. After which he did his own thing and never told me when to take my hand off. After 60 seconds of keeping my fingers on his green lit box I asked if I could take my hands off and he pretended not to hear. I waited another 30 seconds and asked again at which time he muttered something which I took for 'Yes'. I have a rule, never ask any questions and never answer more than what was asked – this rule has helped me get through a lot of immigration, customs, visa interviews and etc. But today I had to break the rule. Again while he was flipping the pages of my much flipped passport I noticed that the boarding pass that I had stowed away had fallen between him and his table. I hoped it had fallen to the floor and not just rested somewhere in the middle. I asked again after my passport was safely returned, for the boarding pass. Well he got up for me and then with his polished boots kicked it outside his itsy bitsy cubicle and I stooped down humbly to pick it up almost imagining that in another day and age he would have liked to kick me in the face with those shoes. I know that people have had worse experiences and this one was good enough for me.

Well this added to my weariness in this return. The gentleman had also signed off on my customs card for a inspection of my bags. Well after I picked up my bags I went to the customs officer who asked me to take the bags to the X-ray machine. I was intercepted on the way by another officer who looked at me and asked if I was a student and what kind of foods I was carrying. When I mentioned pickles and spices, he only wanted to know if they were whole spices and I said no. He just waved his hand and asked to exit. Maybe he knew I was a botanist and would not add to the problems in Hawaii with more seeds sneaked in to add to the invasives list!!