Crossing the Border, part 2: Canada

So, Canada tightened up security at the border today, and it took me longer than usual to get home. This happens on occasion, and I have to go through two checkpoints instead of one, and the questioning is a bit longer. In addition, today they pulled out their psychological trick questioning techniques.

It is really kind of amusing to contrast the two countries. When the US wants to tighten security, they bring dogs and glare at you when you roll your window down and keep glaring throughout your questioning. The questioning is meaner, too, until they almost have you convinced you aren't telling the truth.

When Canada wants to trick you into lying, they're a lot sneakier about it. The guard I had today was an older guy, and if you can imagine the stereotypical old British uncle who spoils all the kids, he would fit the bill pretty well (minus the accent). I pulled up to the checkpoint, and he looked at me, smiled, and said, "You're hair's darker!" It took me awhile to even make sense of this. I assumed he meant, darker than when the picture was taken, but even then, it shouldn't be noticeable, seeing as how I've never colored my hair in my life. He went on, "You've almost got little blond highlights in your photo!" He used all the hand motions, too. I told him that my picture was taken in the summer when my hair was lighter. It's the only thing I could think of.

He just laughed and said, "Ra-chel Nel-son!" in such a way that you expected him to say something like, "You just get taller every time I see you!" or something. I said, "Yes, that's me." And then he said, "You just had a 23rd birthday, didn't you?" At which point I looked at him, confused, and said, "Not yet."

You could tell this was the answer he was looking for, because he smiled even bigger and said, "Not yet! You're right!" and waved me on. It was pretty funny, because, although I wouldn't have guessed it beforehand, it was obvious he knew exactly when my birthday is and said that, very intentionally, to see what I would respond. He seemed so proud of me for actually being myself, too.

After I cleared the checkpoint, I looked at my Nexus card. The funny thing is, with the black-and-white rendering, I do look like I have very prominent blond highlights. I never would have noticed it.