Must Be The Budget Cuts

Never push your luck. I got through security at Heathrow with only a minor rearrangement of my knickers. (It ought to be against the law for them to deliberately give you a wedgie.) Although the flight was delayed by a half hour, it wasn't full and the child sitting opposite us settled down and went to sleep relatively early into it. Very little turbulence and I finished the book I was reading. We landed on time in spite of the late start!

And that was when my luck got pushed. There were a total of five customs agents working the passport control gates. We waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. It was worse than waiting in line at six flags. It could have been worse - we could have had a connecting flight - many people did and I imagine they didn't make their connections. One poor woman was in tears by the time she got to baggage claim. At least after waiting all that time to clear passport control, all of the bags had been delivered and the conveyor belt had stopped - very easy to spot your bags, especially if one of them is hot pink.(I love my hot pink bag!). But the tearful woman was pleading (in an Eastern European accent) with one of the dog handlers to help her get through this process "more quickly". (By the time you get your bags, you only have to hand in your card and describe any food items - tea, chocolate, mustard, cheese, marmite. But what usually takes 15 minutes took well over an hour. I have no idea why, except that there were so few people working. It's not like we landed in the middle of the night. Nor were we the only flight. There were lots of people in line with sandals and fresh tans. It must be that the budget cuts have started and we can no longer afford an effective number of border patrol agents. I am learning patience.