Re: [HCDX] DX-ers as potential terrorists......

[Don Moore <mooredxer@xxxxxxxxx>]

In my several trips to Latin America, my carrying my Sony ICF-2010 and a
seperate ferrite loop antenna (an old 'Radio West' one) in my carry-on
luggage never caused even a raised eyebrow until this past year. In
November we took a family vacation to Guadalajara, Mexico. In going
through security at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, they ran that bag through
the X-ray machine several times, stopped it, and turned it around and
around. But no one ever said a word to me about it. At the end they just
put it with the rest of our carry-on luggage and said 'Thank You'. Of
course, the fact that I was there with my wife and two kids (ages 10 and
11) made me look less threatening. It was a very early morning flight
and there was actually no one behind us in line. At the time I wasn't
sure if they were truly suspicious of me, or maybe using this unusual
suitcase for a bit of spontaneous training with no one waiting. All the
luggage checkers took a look at it in the X-Ray machine. 

On the return at Guadalajara, the bag didn't raise an eyebrow - even
though just an hour earlier that Dominican Republic plane had crashed in
New York City and no one yet knew what had happened to it. (We had to
sit in Guadalajara airport for four hours until O'Hare said our plane
could leave.) Some might say the Mexicans aren't as careful. Frankly, I
suspect the Mexican agents were just more intelligent, better at
thinking for themselves, and perhaps a bit less paranoid. Although
supposedly things are changing, those airport security jobs were low
wage jobs here in the USA and attracted a lot of less-than-skilled
people. In Mexico, they pay a decent wage (in terms of the local
economy) and attract a better and more educated worker. 




=====
Don Moore     mooredxer@xxxxxxxxx
Radio: http://donmoore.tripod.com  
General & Family History : http://donmoore.tripod.com/mainmenu.htm
** Highly Recommended: http://www.commondreams.org/

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