Two questions I've never been asked by a customs agent before...

So I land in England (this was last Friday) the English gentleman who sat in row 30 with me for the seven hour flight was a delight and we continued to converse as we walked down the breezeway toward customs.  He was citizen and had not been required to fill out the customs form for entry so we said good bye as I made my way toward the customs line and he said, "I'll see you down in baggage claim."  It was about 6:30 in the morning and I knew he was excited to quickly gather his bag to arrive home in time to take his son to school that morning so I honestly didn't think I would ever see him again.  Sitting in row 30 meant there was already a long line of people who had already made their way off the plane before me.

I finally make it to one of the four counters. As it happened I was on the very end where there was glass over- looking baggage claim.  I smiled and handed the custom's agent (who happened to be woman) my passport and my customs form.  She glanced over it.  The only part I hadn't filled out was the address of where I would be staying.  The Captain (Brian) had e-mailed it to me in the event I wanted to mail some gear rather than pack it, but I couldn't find the email on my blackberry so I left it blank.  I had left that portion blank many times before, or just jotted down the name of a hotel, etc. and breezed through customs so I didn't think anything of it.  

Not this time.

She looked up at me and said, "what is the address of where you will be staying?" I explained the Captain of the yacht Armadek was meeting me at the airport and that I would only be in England for a week before we set sail to Cyprus.  Nothing reaction.  Then she asked, "how long have you known him."  I thought...hmmm that's quite an odd question, if not even a personal question coming from a custom's agent.  Unfortunately, I had only known Brian for three months...and I thought to myself in that split second...why would that matter?so why is she asking me this?  So I said, "for quite some time now."  No reaction.  Next response.  "Well how did you meet this man."  Now alarm bells were going off.  The truth is I met him on the internet, but the fact of the matter is that once you are in the sailing world there are dozens of well-known trusted sites that connect people from all over the world.  With the line of questioning I just knew I could not tell this woman that the man I was meeting was a man I met on the internet.  So I explained that I was positive he was waiting for me and that maybe I should call him to get his address for her.  She said, "I'll go talk to him, you can sit in the room over there and wait."

Not good news.  I didn't leave the counter...the odds of ever getting out of those little "custom rooms" and getting in the county seem to be slim. I thought, I need an address.  There is no way I came all this way and I can't get into England!  I looked below an my Row 30 was looking up from baggage claim with a look of "what's wrong...what's going on."  I motioned for him to come up the stairs.  Through the glass, I some how communicated I needed and address for my customs's form.  So he holds up his iphone and I frantically type into my blackberry some very foreign looking address.  "Thank you" I mouthed through the glass.  Whew! I have an address! It seemed like an eternity before she returned.  She had paged Brian and spoken with him by phone and verified not only all of my information but all of HIS information.

Later I learned, customs in England is cracking down on the high number of arranged marriages where the woman is then granted citizenship in the UK simply by marriage.  Who would have thought that a custom's agent in England suspected that I had agreed to an arranged marriage!!!!  We all have gotten a good laugh over that since.