Red-state Paranoia
The flight from Tokyo to Toronto was always going to be a bit of a hike. Air Canada fly direct, but I was scared of a 13 hour flight in a 1980s 747 that lacks personal tvs and all the other conveniences that can now make such a distance on the long-distance flights. So instead I decided to fly UA via Chicago. I was very happy with the in-flight service, and look forward to my next UA flight in a few weeks.
I actually left Tokyo on Monday afternoon, and after a 13 hour flight I arrived in Chicago at 11:30AM on Monday morning (having crossed the date line). As usual I didn't get much sleep on the flight so I was pretty flat by the time I arrived in Chicago.
I lined up at the immigration queue for visitors and duly waited my turn. This part of the Chicago O'Hare terminal was pretty impressive with its size and the volume of passengers being processed at the time I was there. When I was at the front of the line I noticed a little poster that described passengers' rights etc when dealing with immigration officers, and how the Department of Homeland Security sees its immigration officers as the face of of America. Well, if that is true, then the face of America is an gun-toting, tobacco-chewing, SUV-driving, red-state redneck . The interview started with the usual what am I doing in America (transiting), how long do I intend to stay (about 1.5 hours), where have I been (Japan), where am I going (London), what is my job (programmer), do I have a job (no) etc etc, but quickly headed south when he asked to see my ticket for my Chicago-Toronto flight. By this point I was a nervous wreck and had forgotten I already had a boar
ding pass for that flight. So when he misread my ticket as having me staying in Chicago for 8 days (the complete opposite of everything I had just said) he saw red and felt justified and pressed on. For at least fifteen minutes the immigration officer drilled me over every aspect of my trip. He wanted to know how much money I was travelling with, whether there was anyone else travelling with me, how I could be working in London, what other passports I had etc etc etc. I eventually cottoned on to his error, (by which time as had he) but he didn't care to acknowledge the misunderstanding. Sadly my experience isn't unusual, although it probably doesn't help to be an unemployed Australian of Mediterranean descent travelling alone on two passports. Most Canadians I have since encountered tell me that they do everything possible to avoid transiting through America now.
Thankfully every other person I dealt with in Chicago was polite and professional, restoring some sense of balance to my O'Hare experience. The airport looks exactly like it does in Home Alone. The only thing I wasn't prepared for was how the people looked. I saw more extreme cases of obsesity in 1.5 hours at O'Hare, than during my 3 week stay in Japan. And what's with ladies' hair fashions there? I haven't seen so much teasing since the 80s.
