We have a somewhat funny (in a disturbing sort of way) story about our first interview for our Nexus passes, which are for crossing the border into Canada and automatically include Global Entry. We anticipated that we might be quizzed a bit on our list of countries visited, as we'd recently been on Ngaire's escorted cruise from Dubai to Athens, which included a number of stops in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.

The interview with the Canadian customs official was courteous and brief. We then went to the U.S. customs dude, who was sitting with his feet on his desk, his cap on, and his sunglasses propped on his cap. (Very cool dude, no?) After looking us up and down in his best imitation of a tough cop, he asked us why we had visited "so many Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, and Argentina".

Knowing that the customs agents can deny a Nexus/Global Entry pass with no explanation, we bit our tongues and did not point out to the idiot that Argentina, being about 99% Catholic, is seldom considered a Muslim country. Even though he was likely confusing Argentina with Algeria (which wasn't even on our list), it is disturbing that a U.S. customs agent could be so clueless. Maybe it was the effect of having his sunglasses pressing onto his head through his hat?

Fortunately, our renewal interview last year was entirely pleasant and did not involve any such doltish behavior, either from us or from the customs agents.