DON’T TRY TAKING A LITTLE APPLE TO THE BIG APPLE
This week I am working in New York, I never cease to be excited as the plane lands in this great city and I never cease to be nervous for no real reason when going through customs and passport control. I spend more time in the US than anywhere and yet every time the official asks me to put my fingers in position so they can read my fingerprints on the screen I always put them in the wrong way, however this time Michele and I were first off the flight and feeling very smug, made our way to baggage control. The US airports, like those in many other countries, use sniffer dogs to check for drugs etc. Michele’s (who is not particularly keen on our canine friends) bag got sniffed – the official said “Maam have you got any food or substances in your bag you wanna tell me about” (please read this last sentence with a deep American accent), “no” she replied “I don’t think I’ve got anything”, looking very nervous, “may I have a look” he said as he took the bag from her. His hand touched something inside the bag “could I see your customs declaration form” (again read this sentence with a serious deep American accent). I was beginning to feel panic stricken, had someone dropped an illegal substance in her bag? Would I be able to visit her on a weekly basis while we cleared up this matter? Slowly his hand lifted out the offending object...yes there was something undeclared, it was a green Granny Smith apple purchased from our contact at Marks & Spencer. We both looked and felt extremely relieved “oh it’s just an apple” we said, “oh good, I went on, I’m feeling a bit peckish”, “Maam you need to accompany me as this is an undeclared food item” he said... I joked “it’s just a little apple in the big apple”. He looked disdainfully at me and we followed him rather sheepishly to the homeland security officer where every piece of our luggage was searched. It really is amazing how strict they are, finally we were allowed to go, but not with our apple.
This was not the end of illegal activities – we decided to dump our bags in our apartment and go food shopping, something I really hate to do. Michele has found this new deli so she walked and I trudged 20 blocks to 80th street. Loaded down with bags by the time we had gone two blocks I refused to walk any further when a New York bus pulled up. Lets hop on the bus, it’s going to near our apartment, it’s a while since I’ve been on a bus so why not. I hopped on through the middle door of the bus and moved forward to pay the driver who was just about to set off, he stopped the bus stood out of his seat and said “sir it is an offence to get on the bus from the middle” (read with another deep serious American accent). I apologised profusely and in my best English accent, he relented and returned to his seat and I handed him a $5 bill, “we only take cash or metro card” he said. I hurried up and down the bus trying to change my $5 but no takers, the bus moved off at a slow pace and eventually after jerking about and running up and down the bus I managed to get the $4,60cents in cash. We finally got to our stop and I stood at the door waiting to escape, an old lady with a stick said “push it” – she then hit me with her stick, pushed me out of the way and pushed the button to open the door – welcome to New York.
It is great to be here, I love the speed and pulse of New York, but it is quite hard sometimes as you step from one life in to another by just flying for a few hours and I am embarrassed by these occurrences as I am here so much of my time. So now in all our offices we are preparing a guide that helps you from arriving at the airport to getting to where you are to stay and how to deal with such issues as healthcare, what happens if you are mugged etc.
I have been really thrilled at how many of our staff have embraced our buddy scheme as our offices employ so many people from so many different countries and cultures. Some of the feedback we are getting is that it is really helpful. Travelling around the world and working in different locations can appear to be very exciting and it is, but at the same time it is stressful so I really do appreciate the efforts that our people make on our behalf, so wherever you are I hope you have a great week.
This was not the end of illegal activities – we decided to dump our bags in our apartment and go food shopping, something I really hate to do. Michele has found this new deli so she walked and I trudged 20 blocks to 80th street. Loaded down with bags by the time we had gone two blocks I refused to walk any further when a New York bus pulled up. Lets hop on the bus, it’s going to near our apartment, it’s a while since I’ve been on a bus so why not. I hopped on through the middle door of the bus and moved forward to pay the driver who was just about to set off, he stopped the bus stood out of his seat and said “sir it is an offence to get on the bus from the middle” (read with another deep serious American accent). I apologised profusely and in my best English accent, he relented and returned to his seat and I handed him a $5 bill, “we only take cash or metro card” he said. I hurried up and down the bus trying to change my $5 but no takers, the bus moved off at a slow pace and eventually after jerking about and running up and down the bus I managed to get the $4,60cents in cash. We finally got to our stop and I stood at the door waiting to escape, an old lady with a stick said “push it” – she then hit me with her stick, pushed me out of the way and pushed the button to open the door – welcome to New York.
It is great to be here, I love the speed and pulse of New York, but it is quite hard sometimes as you step from one life in to another by just flying for a few hours and I am embarrassed by these occurrences as I am here so much of my time. So now in all our offices we are preparing a guide that helps you from arriving at the airport to getting to where you are to stay and how to deal with such issues as healthcare, what happens if you are mugged etc.
I have been really thrilled at how many of our staff have embraced our buddy scheme as our offices employ so many people from so many different countries and cultures. Some of the feedback we are getting is that it is really helpful. Travelling around the world and working in different locations can appear to be very exciting and it is, but at the same time it is stressful so I really do appreciate the efforts that our people make on our behalf, so wherever you are I hope you have a great week.
