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BOS got unstaffed camera kiosks some years back, and being the wise-ass I am, I made a funny face for the camera, figuring the picture would end up stored for all eternity on a computer, never having been seen by human eyes.

At that point in time, they were still having humans in the loop, and I got a different kind of funny look from the customs or immigration person I spoke to some minutes later.

I got a third kind of funny look once we were allowed back into the country from my highly unamused wife...



Never have fun with border control. Know your audience.


I took a bus many years ago from Rochester, NY to Toronto, ON. As ID for crossing the border, I only had my driver's license, not my passport, as this was allowed at the time. But the border agent was a bit grumpy about it for some reason. He asked if I had a birth certificate, and I thought I'd be cute about it and responded, "Sure, of course I've got one... but not with me! :D" He stared at me dead faced and just said, "Go over there and wait in line J". Line J felt kind of like "The group W bench" from the song Alice's Restaurant. I waited in that line for about 45 minutes for the new border agent to give me a tired look and then wave me through. The rest of the passengers on the bus waiting for me were not amused.


-- dad only had two hard fast rules with us growing up - never ever ride a motorbike - never ever joke around at border control --




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