I left Israel the other day for a quick 24 hour business trip. On my way out, after passport control before going down the ramp to duty free, there is one more security check, where your passport/ticket are examined (or a piece of paper is given in).
The checker spoke as follows to the people in front of me:
To tourists visiting Israel: "Thank you for visiting, we hope you had a great trip"
to the Israeli teenager: "Have a fun time abroad!"
to my business colleague: "Shana Tova, Gmar Chatima Tova" (A good year to you)
to me: "Gmar Chatima Tova...Tzom Kal" (A good year...and have an easy fast [yesterday was a minor fast day])
Personalized service to every departing traveler -- with a smile!
(Have you ever gotten a smile out of TSA?!)
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7 comments:
No. But to be fair, T&A is a much more touchy, feely organization.
TSA are a bunch of perverts.
http://gizmodo.com/5845772/tsa-pats-down-breast-cancer-survivor-even-after-getting-scanned
Yes!! One of the guys working the intl entry checkpoint in ATL used to be a comedian and was constantly cracking jokes and making people smile.
What is amazing, is she correctly sized up each person for the proper greeting. She, too, knows how to apply Israeli security models.
They're really nice on your way out. They should be - with one in every five Israelis now living permanently abroad,they hope to get some of those who return once a year to visit family, to come back. The recent MOIA YouTube campaign "Hegia Hazman Lachzor La'aretz" conveys just some of the long term cultural problems associated with Yerida. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB-7734p-EI&feature=player_embedded&noredirect=1
Of course, they will never publish what the campaign cost or how effective it was. They continue to miss the point that what matters is how Israelis are treated when they arrive in Israel is much more important. When Bar Refaeli was stopped at customs for 'smuggling' an iPad into Israel and forced to pay exorbitant taxes and a fine, the message is crystal clear for hundreds of thousands of Yordim.
Now if only the farbisseneh passport control people who "greet" you on entering Israel would shape up....
I remember those guys.
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