A smile works wonders at passport control
“Welcome back to the United States, Mister Lee.”
These are some of the best eight words to hear first thing in the morning.
When I lived in Chile, I made the Chile-U.S. trip with some regularity. In the following example, I’m entering the United States after the 10-hour overnight/red-eye flight from Santiago de Chile. After passport control, baggage claim, and baggage transfer, I’m off onto the next stage of my travel.
The folks at U.S. Customs and Border Protection are doing their jobs the best they can. I know most officers aren’t (deliberately) grumpy; similarly, most travellers aren’t seeking trouble.
Instead of the ill-tempered tactic which is sure to fire off a crappy start to everyone’s day, I’ve gone with a different approach.
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