From: "Tom Ellis" <tomsmics@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Travel and airline checks.....
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 13:40:32 -0600
I've travelled of and on, overseas and within the US, with my 545 for years
and never had a problem. Same thing with harps, packed loosely, in a harp
case, etc. US inspectors have almost always known it was a mic and always
ID harps. I did, however, have one very interesting run in with customs a
few years back in Morocco. I had a small case full of harps in my carry-on
and when I went through I was immediately pulled aside. The agent, who
spoke good English and fluent French, asked me to pull them out and had me
hand all five of them to him for closer inspection. We had some very small
talk, and at the end of the exam he looked me straight in the eye, with as
stern a look as I've ever had at customs, and said, "So you say you can
play these things. Then prove it." I smiled thinking it was a joke. He
was deadly serious. I played about 60 seconds of Juke, he thanked me, then
let me go. He never broke stride. Even today I wonder if he didn't stifle
a huge laugh over the whole thing. But that day, in the Agadir airport,
six months after the Iraq invasion, you weren't going to mess around with
Muslim customs officers. Especially when you were the only American on the
flight.......TOM ELLIS/Tom's Mics
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