Capetonian : I have just posted on "Where Are They Now" and apologise for repeat but this might be appropriate. I am now dreading travel anywhere further than the local shops. Reading an article in the Daily Fail about enhanced security, I realise that I currently fit the high risk profile exactly. Being dusky to start with and enjoying roasting myself wherever there was any sun, I have a tendency to go very dark indeed. Following 17 years with GF in Bahrain and now 5 years of retirement bliss in the hot Cyprus sun, I look like a local (still pleasing for the Memsahib & still pulling admiring glances from other chicks................I'll have you know ). BUT, being a Brit & therefore an EU Citizen, fastracking into the USA with the Visa waiver programme, I am not going to proceed terribly fast because I have not been resident in the UK for 22 years; my passport is full of arabic writing; upon questioning I can reveal that I am a retired B767 pilot and, as I stated earlier, I do look very foreign indeed !
I can see why Border Security would want to look at me very carefully but it is now restricting my travel planning thoughts. Can I be bothered with the US entry ? Nah. Not really but it interferes with my Bucket list as I do want to see Graceland and head to Area 52 for my "Greys" T-shirt ! UK entry is also looking tiresome as incoming dusky with a British passport having not been in the UK for at least the last 5 years will be of prime interest to Entry Staff !
All very tiresome but I can, after all this, see their point. If I venture past the local shops and trusted Taverna, I will TRY to be ever so pleasant with those just doing their jobs. But, I am minded to just, simply, not bother.