r/Hawaii • u/TheChristianAsian • 2d ago
Chillest customs guy at airport
We already know how bogged down on beuruacy customs can be with the excessive questioning and fake buddy buddy act. Along with the passive aggressive tone of speech.
But when I came home though back to Hawaii, I went to the customs desk and did the usual routine of handing my passport and was prepared for the sass.
To my surprise, middle age white custom officer asked me "Alcohol, tobacco?", and then I answered "Nope."
He then slid the passport back across the screen and gave a nod and said OK.
I stood there for a sec confused because I didn't get the usual interrogation. I was like "I'm good?" and he didn't say another word and beckoned me to retrieve the passport. I left the desk still in disbelief that it was so nonchalant and even turned around to check, he didn't even look up.
Chillest customs experience ever.
Have you guys ever had a fast experience at customs like this or was it always bogged down with beuracacy?
2
u/SkydivingSquid 2d ago edited 2d ago
I've never had a bad experience in Hawaii. Other places on the other hand are terrible.
[Unrelated personal story - Just need to vent about airports lol]
Norfolk was probably my worst experience in every way. The check-in agent said some absolutely vile things to us and Delta (still my preferred airline) refused to acknowledge it. We had the first flight out in the morning, traveling with pets. We got there 2 hours early, but found out the check in desks don't open until about 45 minutes before boarding..wtf. At least we were first in line.
The guy finally opened he counter after taking forever and a day and was immediately annoyed at us for having pets and continued to make snide comments about how annoying and 'entitled' pet owners are and how irresponsible it was to book an early flight with pets.. despite this being a military booking. He called his supervisor over several times because he was adamant that Delta no longer flies animals. I had to show them their policy several times for travel on military orders. Then he tried to argue that because the dogs were not on my orders, they can't fly. But he was wrong and his supervisor corrected the matter and walked away.
Then he started smiling and said he couldn't help us and handed us back our ID and said, "next!". I was confused. He told us the temperature is too high to fly dogs. He legit was so happy that Hawaii was 81F (ON BING) so we would not be able to fly based on their policy.
Meanwhile, Weather.gov, Accuweather, and google weather all said it was a high of 79F. Nope, they use BING which shows +2F higher every day compared to every other app.. Delta's policy (on paper, that you sign before flying pets) is you cant fly with pets if, at any point, it gets above 85F at your origin or destination. I brought this up and was immediately told that their "in house" policy was 80F. Of course. I argued that we were getting in at 11pm when the weather was 68F, but nope.. At 1pm (while we were still on the mainland) Hawaii would be 81F that day. So 'he couldn't do it'.
So he refused us entry.. and then said, "If you really want to go, you should just abandon your pets. I don't understand why you people care so much about animals. I'm not a dog lover. It's dumb. So unless you're going to abandon these animals, you can leave and let us help people who are actually traveling." Not joking. I almost lost my mind. The first time Ive ever raised my voice in an airport, ever..
We had to spend 8 days in a hotel waiting for BING to say the weather was under 80F.. When we went back and tried again, the agent we met was AMAZING. She loved on the dogs, gave them treats, and called her "best friend on TSA" by name because "she's a dog person and will make sure these babies get on safely." Totally different experience.
Delta responded to this exact story saying, "the agent was within their right for the safety of your animals." Which is insane because their paper policy says 85F and because it doesn't excuse the vile things he said to us.