Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Bell
Yes, I was a being a bit thick there.  |
As someone who experienced the cross-border fun and games in, iirc, 1975 travelling between Germany and France I have long thought that many people in subsequent generations have been left relatively clueless about the (now hidden) rituals of "real life".
It had been a long hot drive and so it was good to have an enforced break for a "discussion" with a couple of French customs officers about the commercial value of some dirty T-shirts and a handful of model cars.
Quite entertaining as the elder of the two, who spoke very reasonable English, shrugged his shoulders and would have been happy to send us on our way.
The younger of the two, possibly quite new to the job I suspected, was less flexible. Even the explanation that they were promotional items and he was welcome to as many as he could carry did not sway him in our favour. We wasted a couple of hours and a lot of paper forms. I'm probably still on an official list of reprobates somewhere in the depths of a filing system.