Some Odd questions from Canadian Customs

Crowe wrote:
Come on dude Tx, get over yourself. Those guys are just there doing their jobs and trying to protect this great country of ours. Give them a break. You will live longer and have lower blood pressure. Be nice, it will not hurt you.

Just saying. No offense intended.

X2. Not saying you would but some who complain about being questioned at the border would be the first to complain if someone made it through that shouldn't. Having been in the world of defense contracting and national security has given me a very different perspective on this type of thing. It's a tough job and the advice to not speak unless spoken to is excellent. Don't give them a reason to detain you. And don't be flip-they have a tendency to not like that!

The problem with what you are saying is this:

It assumes that what the Border Customs officials are doing is actually EFFECTIVE.

I have been through customs checkpoints in more than 40 countries all over the world some many times. I have seen the good the bad and the EFFECTIVE. If you have a limited experience with passing through customs it may be easy to assume what they are doing is great. But if like me you have seen customs from Cambodia to China to Europe Egypt Africa etc etc. Then you have a different perspective.

US Customs in my opinion fail more than they succeed due to their over reliance on trying to trip people up with patently transparent and easily gamed questions. Its more security "Theater" than actual security.

What is really keeping this country safer is our Visa Process at our embassies all over the globe which is truly grueling. And as an American citizen most of us have never come in contact with this procedure. I have and I can tell you for sure that is where the real protection goes on...not by the guy with the gun and the bad attitude at Customs.