Boycotts seem to work...and this knocked me on my non-existant ass.

If you stay stubborn enough....

Our GP went to New Yawk with his family two weeks ago. And he made his house call to Peter's today.

So I asked him how it was over there. And he said the city was expensive, the people were nice, and wanted to go into rhapsodies. Of course they were. It's the hurdle when you arrive.

So I cut him off, and asked, 'No, what was landing at the airport like?'

'Getting through immigration?'

And he knocked me on my arse. Full out.

'So wonderful, so friendly, it was great.'

And I said, 'Really? I don't believe it.'

And he said, 'No, they have all these signs out saying they are the first friendly faces welcoming tourists to the US' and want to make a good imprssion.' Since WHEN did they join the civilised world, hey?

It was always suspicion, and 'we are so wonderful, you will want to stay here illegally.' Except they aren't.

I am not exaggerating here. I got a taste of it when I returned from my year abroad in the Nixon Administration, and some git told me all I had done... I got some mail stolen... hostile doesn't begin to describe it.

And I flew in and out of the US over the following years, and it was always the same hostile behaviour.

My last trip over... was with my father, because I wanted to make him happy.

By then, I had another passport. My father had to go to the left side, I to the right, for 'ferners'. That man gave me so much grief, I was near tearing down his plastic booth.

Just for being an asshole....

But I stayed civil and acidic.

And I have ALWAYS said, if we treated people coming into our country that way, we would be out of the tourism business.... and called fascists.

And that is the way they have operated from 1972 to today, as far as I knew and experienced it...

Now... I have spoken with a mess of people over the past several years.... professionals, doctors, who were invited to conferences 'over there'. And felt so badly treated, they didn't attend, although they had a lot to say. Because of how they were treated. They just stopped.

They politely refused to attend. Although they did say why among themselves...

I have spoken with just your everyday person on the street who went there, and felt like they had been treated like crimnals. One of the latter was just wanting to visit her daughter in San Francisco, where she was studying, and had a horrific trip.

I have read reports that tourism has sharply declined there.

Well who the hell wants to put themselves through that?

It was nice to hear that things changed a bit.

Everyone has always said tht if you get over that hurdle, 'people are so nice...'

They differentiate, you see...