Have Bags, Will Travel

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Excerpt: 

Airport Security

Returning home from a vacation is always a nerve-racking event for me. Instead of flying home and basking in the memories of the wonderful time I've just had on vacation, I repeatedly go through my receipts from the trip so I can carefully calculate how not to exceed the fixed limit we're allowed to bring back without penalty. I must remember which receipts correspond to the tags I've already cut off so I can take them out of the pile. More math!

Most people don't worry about such things—but I have to. It's practically like my face is on a milk carton: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOMAN SHOPPING? For decades now, I've been consistently pulled over at customs. A planeload of people pick up their luggage and sail through the exit doors to freedom, and one person (and her husband) get singled out for interrogation. This happens on ninety percent of my trips. Why is it that I'm picked out of two hundred and fifty passengers to be interrogated? I lament, but I'm familiar with all the tricks by now: don't wear flashy jewelry, don't dress up, try to blend in. I can't help it, though. I have what I've identified as shopping face. . .


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