Originally Posted by
Lascaille
So when my wife gets out something to use for later, then half an hour later spends ten minutes looking for that same exact thing, she's just doing it to mess with me? I'll tell her. I'll tell myself as well because 'I'll just put thing-that-needs-to-go-in-the-car next to my car keys so I remember it later' more often than not turns into 'where the hell did I put that thing'. Clearly I'm just doing it to wind myself up.
Columnar dwelling made of animal teeth, remove yourself from it.
The woman never claimed she forgot about the apple in her bag. On the contrary, she stated she put it in her bag to eat during her onward flight, which is a purposeful act. She had plenty of time to think about or review the rules if she had a question beforehand, or declare it in order to obtain an answer from Customs at the entry point. If she had declared it the agent would have said "No it's fruit, says right there", tossed it, and sent her on her way.
She didn't do any of those things, however. She attempted to bring it through, undeclared, knowing it was in her bag. She's only whining because she got caught doing so, was rightfully fined, and also lost her Global Entry privileges/access because she can't be trusted to even seek an answer for a listed item (fruit or vegetable), but instead made the assumption the rule didn't apply to her and her item.
You and your wife's personal memory problems/failings when it comes to locating items in your own house are irrelevant to this Global Entry passenger being ignorant-of or ignoring the very simple and clearly written and posted rules with respect to items she must declare or not bring into the country.
As for your lost-but-not-lost household items, I bet if you and your wife posted signs and created little cards that itemized each plus clearly stated their location, something akin to how Customs writes/posts rules on what's banned and what must be declared, you wouldn't make the "mistake" of forgetting where they were for any longer than it took you to read. That's not coincidental. In fact, the entire point of writing things clearly on prominently-displayed signs and cards that one must sign after filling-out is to do just that; to ensure one doesn't remain ignorant and/or "forget stuff".
Of course, maybe this woman is the type of person who doesn't believe she should have to make an effort to read anything in order to get through life, so if information isn't spoon-fed into her head by someone else through an easier form of media then the plain, written word she can't be blamed for whatever happens. Therefore, she may believe any negative effect is "unfair" because her ignorance must be someone else's fault. Or, she knew full well but thought the chances of her being searched were low-to-nil and her "But Delta gave it to me" excuse would fly if she were. Sorry, Ms. Global Entry-no-more, it didn't.