[PRCo] Re: crossing the border

[Fred Schneider]

 BORIS MAKES SENSE.      We cannot learn every language in the world, but maybe
we should be teaching Spanish in our schools from grade 3 through 12 instead of
proposing that everyone should learn English.

Boris Cefer wrote:

> Only some nations keep on mind that they have to have learned foreign
> languages if they want others to come. The US (and not only the US) policy
> is that the country doesn't need foreigners to come. This is at least the
> first feeling you have when you come, but then you find that there
> (fortunately!) also good people behind the "border" who don't have their
> brains completely cleaned out.
> Fortunately, I did not experience any problems with the US customs on my
> recent trip.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Fred Schneider" <fschnei at supernet.com>
> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 6:07 PM
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: crossing the border
>
> > Off subject warning!
> >
> > Bob Rathke wrote:
> >
> > > I made dozens of trips to Canada over the decades, and I always carried
> a
> > > birth certificate or a passport with me, but I was never asked to show
> them
> > > until 1993.  Since then, the Canadian immigration officers have always
> asked
> > > to see my papers, and one time they even threatened to deny access to me
> > > because they couldn't detect the raised seal on the papers, but they
> finally
> > > used their fingers to find it.
> > >
> > > Bob 3/6/05
> > >
> >
> > Sorry Bob, but you lit my match.....
> >
> > I cannot help but wonder if the fine Canadians are doing that simply
> because
> > they know the U. S. immigration people are going to be bears to returning
> U. S.
> > citizens.   They may not want you to remain in Canada as a burden to their
> > welfare system if our people will not let us come home.  What do you
> think?
> >
> > My own observation over the last 50 years is that the Canadian immigration
> > people were invariably more pleasant and understanding  than U. S.
> immigration.
> >
> > I've watched U. S. immigration people curse foreigners for minor reasons,
> often
> > for not understanding English.    I've asked one of our people at
> Philadelphia
> > International Airport, after I had gotten off a Frankfurt/Main -
> Philadelphia
> > plane with one stop in Montreal, where were our people who spoke French
> and
> > German.  The answer was that the one person who spoke German was on
> vacation and
> > no one speaks French.  But anyone getting off the same craft the next
> morning in
> > Frankfurt would have found that any inspector on any line would speak
> German,
> > French and English.   What does this tell us about our desire to have
> Europeans
> > come here and spend their money on vacation?   My travel agent advised me
> not to
> > write any complaint letters to our authorities because from then on I
> would be
> > stopped and harassed.
> >
> >
> > > --
> >
> >
> >