Travel mishaps in Mexico ... and Canada

Something strange happened upon my return flight from Mexico City to Toronto this month. Upon arriving on the red eye early AM there were CBSA officers at the end of the jetway way before the normal Customs/passport check. They were stopping each individual passenger and asking for passports and other questions. For me, a Canadian citizen, it was an immediate wave through. But I heard the officer ask the Mexican man behind me, “Why are you coming to Canada?” I’d noticed upon boarding the night before a preponderance of single Mexican men, of varying ages, boarding the aircraft. I immediately concluded they were seasonal farm workers. But were some of them not? There have been reports of Central Americans now using the Canadian northern border to illegally enter the US. That’s in addition to the millions that have flowed in essentially uncontrolled across the southern US border during the Biden Administration. But sometimes what remains of that boarder’s controls may still deter arrivals, so some apparently have been opting in from the Great White North. Was this what CBSA was so scrupulously watching for? Also, even though I wasn’t questioned I was held up after clearing normal Customs when asked where I was coming from. When I replied “Mexico City” there was some alarm and I was directed to a more secure area.

Upon finally leaving Customs at Pearson, I had to again check in through security as if this was my first flight. The inspection process was a little unconventional and that got a fellow passenger into trouble. What happened was he grabbed his laptop from the conveyor belt, probably assuming it had already gone through x-ray. That’s when two security officers freaked and shouted at him, suggesting he’d committed a grave security error. It apparently was a no-no to take anything from the conveyor belt before staff had checked them personally. The unknowing passenger politely argued that he wasn’t trying to violate policies but after some back and forth said he “knew my rights!” One of the security staff continued to taunt and joke, “You’ll be held up a long time now!” which I thought unprofessional. After I was finally given my luggage and walking away for my connecting flight, I saw two well-armed police officers making their way to the unlucky passenger.

This blog is called Expect the Unexpected and not always in the good sense. So, I’ll have to add a couple of mishaps that occurred on my Mexico City trip. The first was upon arrival at Benito Juarez airport and the unfamiliar frenzy of the arrivals hall, where taxi companies’ staff literally shout at you – competing with one another – for business. But I also needed to find an ATM and retrieve Mexican currency, along with a transit smart card, which I’d read were both available from machines in the hall. I never found the transit card machine. But, after asking a couple of people (in bad Spanish) I finally found a generic ATM. I withdrew the Pesos, picked up my bag and walked towards a taxi counter (the woman at the far end calling the loudest got my business!). A half hour later, arriving at my hotel and taking out my wallet to pay, I noticed my debit card was gone. Sure enough, I'd left it in the ATM. Luckily, I had three credit cards which worked, by trial and error, in other ATMs around Mexico City, ensuring I had enough cash for the weeklong visit. But if you thought that was bad the very next day, in the heart of the city (photo) – and using my credit card to withdraw money – I spied a green woman’s wallet sitting on the ATM counter. Wow. I immediately took it to a bank staffer sitting alongside the machines. Hopefully the poor woman reclaimed it.

Finally, upon arriving at the Cadillac Hotel Boutique, a nice contemporary hotel on the edge of Mexico City's central business district, and given my key card, I opened my room door only to find a strange configuration of essentially two bunk beds, separated by a wall and different entrances in an architecturally stylish room. But my bunk (photo) was still cramped, and I felt like I was in a fox hole. After a couple of nights, I upgraded. 

- Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller