I don't know. Some of them wish they were the Gestapo.
I agree you got all kinds
Many moons ago while crossing into the US I happened to stumble upon one such individual st the border . It’s a really long story and I was a bit foolish and tired at the time and so I ended up cursing out loud in my native language a rookie border agent/guard dressed in military combat clothes that had just been transferred there recently it seems from the army . There where like 5, 6 of us there in a room for questioning fir no apparent reason and we where waiting fir some time and he was commanding , screaming at us actually like a marin drill sergeant to seize talking to each other and I had enough by then and lost my patience unfortunately and went off and let him have it
I ended up loosing almost half a day and I think it could have been even worse ,,, they could have refused me entry but they didn’t. Funny thing is in my defence I actually remember that I told them that they where behaving like the Gestspo ( that same exact word ) lol . Those where the rudest “ border agents “ that I have ever encountered till this day . But those where different times Hungry as it was 1,2 months after the 9/11 attacks had occurred and there was plenty of paranoia going around
But in general I usually do not have problems as I understand how best to deal with border agents so as to have the least amount of problems. Being patient and polite can go a long way when dealing with the difficult ones . Anyways the above story fir me was the exception rather than the norm
Don’t be rude or disrespectful of course. Don’t try to be funny or cute and do not try to make smart comments as that is the worse.
And this one is the most important of them all ,,, do not show any signs of fear , nervousness . Some folks get so nervous thst they begin to look suspicious. If you display to them signs of being fearless it doesn’t mean arrogance or being cocky ,,, they usually interpret it as a sign that the individual in question is not scared because he has nothing to hide .
Don’t try to lie especially if you are lousy at it . Some of us are better than others . And some are really cool under pressure ,,, I have known such folks and they could be dying inside and you won’t know a thing , they are that good . They could do things that are high risk all the while being cool and composed and of course I’m not talking about crossing the border for mongering .
But not everyone is like that so try to keep things simple. If ones nervous about lying then don’t it’s a simple as that meaning don’t deviate , stray far from the truth . This way you won’t feel like your lying. Give them what they want and what they usually want is the truth . Not everything of course but just a wattered down version , enough to make you les anxious and nervous or guilty. The usual example would be ,if your coming to monger in the city of Montreal then you tell them you might check out the Strip Clubs or bar hopping etc . Montreal is known to be s fun city with beautiful women and a pretty vibrant night life . Even folks that have never visited know this . So if one is visiting and goes out of their way to seem serious or disinterested about the city’s nightlife then at times it won’t seem normal .
What I’m saying is pretty much common knowledge I know ,,, but it is basic truths and things that we tend to forget some times
Keep things simple,clean your phone if you must and play down the whole border questioning thing , try thinking about the good times ahead. Do not worry too much as you are just going to monger after all and not smuggle illegal drugs or government secrets so stop overthinking things
Overthinking “ the art of creating problems that wheren’t even there “
