I know it doesn't have to do with busking, but apparently now, tourists (anyone coming to the US who's not a US citizen so vacationers, business travelers, yadda yadda) coming to the US have to supply something like 5 years of social media history, undergo extensive biometric scanning, supply all family members' birthday dates, etc. Hell I sure don't know my siblings' birthdays, there being 5 of us, except for one and that's only because it kind of rhymes when you say it out loud.
Having no social media history may be considered worse.
And God help you if you're brown. Ken, my boss, and his wife have had fairly frequent vacations outside the US, and Suzy, being Mexican, has already gotten very different treatment than Ken or I. Years ago, pre-covid, I was at Ken's house and he and I were relating our funny anecdotes regarding neglecting registering our cars because who can be bothered to take a look at their own registration sticker? It was all lighthearted and fun, when Suzy jumped up and said she was a day or two late, got stopped, had to get out of the car and put her hands on the hood, and they just about got the cuffs out.
I think it's lovely they got to visit Italy, their being Catholic, and that they visited the Caribbean, Ken being a SCUBA diver, but it may not go well at all if they leave the US and (try to) come back in these times. If it didn't matter that Suzy and her parents are/were US citizens then, it sure might not matter now.
And here I am too old and unskilled and un-wealthy to go much of anywhere else, other than trying to optimize where I am in the US. And here I am wondering if the same restrictions will come into effect for domestic travel. I've made up my mind that it's best to stay here in California until mid-2027, when I'll be 65, so that I'll go directly from Medi-Cal to Medicare, and will get a fairly decent Social Security payment, having waited three years past the earliest day I could apply.
If these restrictions come in domestically, it's going to absolutely kill tourism in Hawaii. Imagine all those Japanese tourists having to do all of this. I don't think it will go over well at all.
There's quite a bit of talk about this on a certain internet site, and of course anyone who might be a reporter or "influencer" is being kept out if they're less than adoring of the present regime. The consensus is that the regime wants to make the US a sort of "hermit kingdom" North Korea style.
I got things shipped and came back here and listed the 20 things I had cued up. Ken's coming over but midnight is like noon to him. No wonder I fight having a night owl schedule.
No comments:
Post a Comment