Surprise inspection

Passport inspections are usually a serious experience, and most immigration inspectors I’ve encountered have a stern countenance, so I was a little freaked out when the UK immigration officers took one look at me, burst out laughing, and exclaimed, “Look! It’s her!”

Female officer: Ah, there she is!

Male officer: It’s our singer, isn’t it?

Female officer: We saw you at karaoke.

Male: Loved your version of “White Rabbit.”

Female officer: You’ve wonderful energy!

Me: You guys were in the audience?

Female officer: We were undercover!

Male officer: After you sang I added “White Rabbit” to my Spotify playlist. Just listened this morning.

Since they were so chatty, I asked why they don’t stamp passports anymore. Turns out it’s now done digitally. The officers are just there to make sure our faces match our passport photos.

As our banter continued, we found out that the immigration officers have been on the ship for a couple days. Must be a fun part of their job to hop from ship to ship.

I would have asked more questions, but by then other travelers showed up and I didn’t want to slow things down.

What a surprising exchange!Read more