Ebbie - You misunderstand me. I have only once had any personal problem crossing an international border...primary reason being that I behave the same way with customs agents as I do with police officers:

I am polite. I stay calm. I am reasonably friendly (without overdoing it). I do not radiate fear, suspicion or hositility. I answer all their questions succinctly and calmly. I present whatever documents they require. I object to nothing they ask me. I protest nothing. I cooperate with them in every way I can.

That is how you deal reasonably with police and customs agents and other people who have total power over you for five minutes and know they do... ;-)

Okay?

The reason I fear crossing the border is that I did once have a lot of unnecessary trouble with some really mean American customs agents in Detroit, despite doing all of the above, probably because I was a young guy with long hair and a guitar. Sometimes all the politeness and good behaviour in the world won't get you by.

I fear being in any situation where some uniformed government official has total power over me and can harass the hell out of me if he takes it into his head to do so for some reason. Doesn't everybody fear such situations to some extent? Look, I can travel freely all over this vast country I live in and I don't have to explain myself to some border official and prove I'm not a criminal...but when I cross an international border, then I am challenged and must explain myself. I don't feel very comfortable in such a situation, specially given that I still have the long hair and the guitar, and the moment they see me they are going to peg me as "a suspicious type" just because I don't look like Mr Average Joe the Plumber in a suit and tie. They are probably going to assume I use illegal drugs (I don't). That's what the Detroit agents assumed.

Many people feel scared when crossing borders, although they know they are harmless and have done nothing wrong....they are momentarily placed in the power of capricious officers who may find a way to make their lives miserable and to humiliate them. Why wouldn't this bother a lot of people?????

Now, add to that the general political situation in the USA as regards "the War on Terror", Homeland Security, and that sort of thing, and it gets a lot worse.

Furthermore, add to that the fact that although I have had only one bad border experience (out of a fair number of visits to the USA), I have heard plenty of stories from other people, musicians especially, about their bad border experiences...

And there you have it.

You seem to be taking personal offence over my dislike of USA border officials. Ebbie, it has nothing to do with you, and it does not translate to a dislike of other people who happen to be Americans.

(I don't like Canadian border officials much either. They're often like little Hitlers in blue uniforms. Yes, I know they have a difficult job to do. Well, life is never perfect for anyone, is it? But they're not in MY power when I show up at the border, I'm in THEIR power, and that's what I don't like about it. No one likes being put in such a position.)

I wish I lived in a world with no borders. But that's just not feasible, given the present state of humanity.