snowbunny00774
ONE love, blood, life
Selfish or just not feeling threatened enough by terrorism?
I just want to get people’s thought’s on a conversation I had last week with a US border guard while I was on my way into the US. I needed to get my I-94 renewed and the guard couldn’t find his stamp. He eventually found it on one of his colleague’s desks, and was complaining that he should chain it to his belt. He then went on to say if he was going to be losing something he would rather it be his gun than the stamp. I was a bit taken aback, and made a comment about hoping he didn’t lose the gun till I was well out of firing range. The look he gave me made feel like an insect. Angrily, he explained that while the gun only held 6 bullets, the stamp had about 200 stamps left on the inkpad for people to get into his country with. I walked out of there shocked – and with an overwhelming sense of guilt that I had been worried about my personal safety instead of the obvious (he made it seem it should have been obvious) greater risk that would be posed by his stamp getting into the wrong hands.
I guess my question is: In the same situation, what would have been your immediate thought when he made the initial comment about preferring to lose his gun to the stamp. Keep in mind this was a fairly rapid-fire conversation, with no time to consider your initial reaction; it was entirely a gut reaction. I also wonder if geographic location has any impact on your answers (proximity to a border, living in a city likely to be targeted by terrorists, residing in a country that generally would not be a target etc.).
I just want to get people’s thought’s on a conversation I had last week with a US border guard while I was on my way into the US. I needed to get my I-94 renewed and the guard couldn’t find his stamp. He eventually found it on one of his colleague’s desks, and was complaining that he should chain it to his belt. He then went on to say if he was going to be losing something he would rather it be his gun than the stamp. I was a bit taken aback, and made a comment about hoping he didn’t lose the gun till I was well out of firing range. The look he gave me made feel like an insect. Angrily, he explained that while the gun only held 6 bullets, the stamp had about 200 stamps left on the inkpad for people to get into his country with. I walked out of there shocked – and with an overwhelming sense of guilt that I had been worried about my personal safety instead of the obvious (he made it seem it should have been obvious) greater risk that would be posed by his stamp getting into the wrong hands.
I guess my question is: In the same situation, what would have been your immediate thought when he made the initial comment about preferring to lose his gun to the stamp. Keep in mind this was a fairly rapid-fire conversation, with no time to consider your initial reaction; it was entirely a gut reaction. I also wonder if geographic location has any impact on your answers (proximity to a border, living in a city likely to be targeted by terrorists, residing in a country that generally would not be a target etc.).
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