Don't trust the Mounties, EH
Really, they may seem all harmless and friendly and Canadian...but they're not to be trusted.
I've learned this from experience. An experience resulting in a "stolen" ID, I might add.
I had been in the car for over 5 hours, having just driven up from Portland, which consisted of sitting in Seattle's rush hour traffic. I wasn't really in the mood to be hassled by a Mounty, especially one who doesn't even carry a gun.
Okay, so I guess I can see how I might be perceived as a little sketchy: I was in a rental car with a temporary tag from Oklahoma, an Arizona driver's license, no birth certificate, and claiming to have drive up from Oregon. But seriously, my story was too hokey to be a lie. Liars -- well, good ones at lease -- tend to shy away from such intricate details. There are too many places you can slip, too many possible holes with which to be trapped. At any rate, they made me sit in a waiting room while they searched my car and my bags. After what felt like about an hour,the guy came in with what looked like my rental car paperwork. I was relieved for a second, thinking they would finally let me go...until the Mounty spoke.
Mounty: "I found the rental agreement but it doesn't have your name on it.."
Me:"What? Look at the bottom. My signature is there."
Mounty: "Well it would be if your name was James Pickens!"
Me: "That must be the paperwork for the previous renter, then."
Mounty: (guffaws) "Well I'm just going to have to give Thrify Rental Car in Portland, OR a call..."
So I tried to explain to him what time I picked up the car and where I thought I had left the paperwork. He wasn't buying my story, but went back out to the car anyway. He came back 10 minutes later with my paperwork, essentially my ticket to roam freely in the Great White North.
By this time I was in tears. Not because I was afraid of the Canadians, or actually thought I'd end up in a Canadian jail cell. But because I was EXHAUSTED. I had been traveling for over 12 hours and just wanted to rest. The last thing I needed was a Canadian border patrol agent with a small penis getting saucy with me. Seriously, what kind of an idiot would I be if I tried to steal a rental car and drive it across the border?
Next time, though...I think I'll fly to Canada.
I've got a whole other story about how I thought I was going to get shot for cutting someone off in traffic... until I remembered that they practice gun control in Canada.
I've learned this from experience. An experience resulting in a "stolen" ID, I might add.
I had been in the car for over 5 hours, having just driven up from Portland, which consisted of sitting in Seattle's rush hour traffic. I wasn't really in the mood to be hassled by a Mounty, especially one who doesn't even carry a gun.
Okay, so I guess I can see how I might be perceived as a little sketchy: I was in a rental car with a temporary tag from Oklahoma, an Arizona driver's license, no birth certificate, and claiming to have drive up from Oregon. But seriously, my story was too hokey to be a lie. Liars -- well, good ones at lease -- tend to shy away from such intricate details. There are too many places you can slip, too many possible holes with which to be trapped. At any rate, they made me sit in a waiting room while they searched my car and my bags. After what felt like about an hour,the guy came in with what looked like my rental car paperwork. I was relieved for a second, thinking they would finally let me go...until the Mounty spoke.
Mounty: "I found the rental agreement but it doesn't have your name on it.."
Me:"What? Look at the bottom. My signature is there."
Mounty: "Well it would be if your name was James Pickens!"
Me: "That must be the paperwork for the previous renter, then."
Mounty: (guffaws) "Well I'm just going to have to give Thrify Rental Car in Portland, OR a call..."
So I tried to explain to him what time I picked up the car and where I thought I had left the paperwork. He wasn't buying my story, but went back out to the car anyway. He came back 10 minutes later with my paperwork, essentially my ticket to roam freely in the Great White North.
By this time I was in tears. Not because I was afraid of the Canadians, or actually thought I'd end up in a Canadian jail cell. But because I was EXHAUSTED. I had been traveling for over 12 hours and just wanted to rest. The last thing I needed was a Canadian border patrol agent with a small penis getting saucy with me. Seriously, what kind of an idiot would I be if I tried to steal a rental car and drive it across the border?
Next time, though...I think I'll fly to Canada.
I've got a whole other story about how I thought I was going to get shot for cutting someone off in traffic... until I remembered that they practice gun control in Canada.