I’m living a stone’s throw from the San Francisco International Airport
\nwhere I works as a cog in the National Security-Industrial Complex. April
\nto August was a battery of federal law, gun smoke, beatings, planes,
\nrubber stamps and Bad Guy-inspired seriousness interrupted with a surf
\nsession in Florida, a many beautiful days next to a pool in Georgia and
\nsneaking up on Lena in Federal Officer uniform. Since then its been a
\nblur: squinting into the sun on the way to work; thousands of sixty-second
\nconversations; a workweek that never really ends and never really begins;
\nyou know: the usual.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
All is well if somewhat surreal. Daily I develop skills which are so
\nspecific to government and law enforcment that their only direct use in
\nprivate enterprise is on the black market. That’s not entirely true, but
\nalmost. The difference between Customs and Immigration is this: Customs
\ncatches things, Immigration catches people. If it’s likely to run away,
\nit’s my problem; if it’s likely to be sold, it’s theirs. If it’s likely to
\nrun away and get sold it’s my problem if it’s human, and Public Health’s
\nif it’s not.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I work an insane number of hours each week, and get paid… well, I get
\npaid. The job isn’t without its perks – I get health care, paid vacations
\nand a union that will defend me if I get sued for doing my job (offer
\nexpires with the Homeland Security Act of 2002). In the afternoons and
\nevenings I have time to read between planes. My co-workers are generally
\nfriendly folk (if uniformly my seniors). <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“But what is it you do?” you ask.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I exchange pleasantries with hundreds of passengers each day, making them
\nsmile, laugh and otherwise welcoming them to the U.S. Right behind the
\nsmile and friendly energy is a stern interrogator looking for the would-be
\nimmigrant presenting a stolen or altered passport, a counterfeit visa or
\notherwise misrepresenting the purpose of their visit. These undesireable
\nfolks, if they are so unlucky as to discovered and sent off to men and
\nwomen so insulted, overworked and assaulted by the stupidity of the
\ngeneral public they have become very angry. “’Once it goes up, who cares
\nwhere it comes down? That’s not my department,’ said Verner Von Braun.”
\nSome get sent home, but most are eventually released into the U.S.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The irony of the job is that after hundreds of conversations I go home to
\nan empty studio and blank social calendar. It seems those I knew in the
\nBay Area in the past have all left (every last one) leaving me to my own
\ndevices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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