So, on my way home from Europe, my flight from Florence to Amsterdam (with Meridiana) arrived late... and my flight from Amsterdam to Detroit (with KLM) left early. I didn't miss the plane... but I came really close to it. I got off of the Meridiana flight and went to pick up my boarding passes for the KLM flight and a connecting flight (from Detroit to Buffalo with NorthWest), and the woman at the counter was all like "the plane is closed! It is already boarded! You have to run, I'll call and tell them" so I grabbed the passes and sprinted (with a fairly large carry-on full of needles, insulin, etc) across Shiphol.

When I got to the part where you have to empty your pockets of all change etc (which I learned the hard way in Florence when the guy spazzed and like, hit me in the leg with his metal detector thingy), I went through and there was a man waiting for me who pulled me off to the side and started asking me a whole bunch of questions about my luggage (ie: where was it packed, who else was there, who was this guy I was staying with, how long I'd known him, whether I'd left his bedroom while he and my luggage were still there, etc etc etc) which freaked me out (I brought home tea that I didn't know if I was allowed to bring home... but also... started worrying at that point that something more serious than tea had been found in my luggage, even though I would have no idea what/how it would have gotten there).... and then, after a few minutes of questioning, he was just like "okay," stuck a yellow sticker on the back of my passport, wrote "DRj" on it, and let me get on the plane. During the 8 hours of flying home, and while I was writing a long letter all about the trip home, I started wondering if maybe the whole "the plane is closed" thing was referring to getting luggage on board, and if maybe my bag had been put on another flight and they had to ask all the questions so they'd have a statement in case anything that shouldn't be in there had turned up in there while I wasn't on the same plane, or something like that.

So, eventually, I made it home and nothing too terrible befell either me or my backpack, but.... now I have this weird sticker on my passport and I don't know what it means. I'm afraid of taking it off.... but, I'm also afraid of leaving it there in case it has some meaning relevant to that trip and is seen by someone on another trip. Has anything similar happened to anyone here (it hasn't happened to any of my in person friends or my family, so no one knows what it means)? Does anyone know what the sticker thing is about/what I should do about it?


Also, when I landed at Detroit Metropolitan, the US Department of Homeland Security man stamped my passport with an entry stamp from a non-existent day (Jan 33 2008).... I noticed at the time, but was too worried about the fact that my connecting flight wasn't listed anywhere to mention it.... but now I'm worried that my passport will look fraudulent...

I've had them tell me the flight is closed as well...typically I take that to mean that they've close the door...but then I've gotten to the gate and they haven't even fricking started boarding. Airport people are crazy...of course, if I worked there I probably would be too.

The passport thing can be tricky. I've had people barely look at it and I've had people scrutinize it. The best response is always the honest one.

Regarding the date stamp
Response: Do you think if I was falsifying my passport I would use a date that doesn't even exist?

Regarding the sticker
I don't know what it is either...but this guy in Amsterdam put it on my passport...and since I don't know what it means, I just left it there.

I doubt you will have any problems.

Thanks, Nou.... that's probably the best advice. It's kind of what I feel too (which is why I've done nothing about anything in 6.5 months, lol) but I stress/worry about stuff..... ;)

Are you, perhaps, a small woman? My experience as part of a family of petite women is that security will let countless big, burly, shifty-eyed men through, then grab one of us for the scary chat. My husband's aunt - 4ft 11 in, 65 yrs old,
with the deepest southern accent you've heard outside of the Beverly Hillbillies was strip-searched. My 5 ft daughter was harrassed about her cell phone - the guy acted like he thought it might be a detonator. Italian customs didn't even look at me, but every time I travel to England or Canada they yell at me for something, as if a small, middle-aged WASP woman from Georgia poses a great threat.

The yellow sticker - not sure what that's about, but if it were meant to be permanent, I think it would have been a stamp. Probably it meant "slight caution,
she was late getting on the plane - one of their flags - but I've questioned her and think she's low risk."

The crazy date stamp - probably just stupidity on the agent's part, but no one's called him on it since no one wants that hassle.

BTW, I love flying KLM. I'd choose them over an American carrier any day.

I'm 5'3".... the biggest girl in my family (on one side, anyway... the people who married into my dad's family are tall for the most part, so some of my cousins on that side are bigger), but I'm not big by many people's standards.


Italian customs were a bit frightening.... they're the only ones on the whole trip who cared about my insulin and needed to see a doctor's note etc (though it was a hassle to get it so I was glad someone at least checked it out, lol).... and as I said, the man hit me in the leg with his metal detector because there was change in my pockets (which may have been a silly mistake, but I'm not used to travelling and it didn't occur to me that the money that was in my pockets on the way was all paper money until after I'd passed through customs in Amsterdam). And getting off the plane in Florence, there were army guys with German Shepherds.... and that scared me. In spite of living in a city where a fairly large regiment is based, I'm not used to seeing a military presence, and I'm kind of freaked out by dogs. Especially big ones. Plus the Italian army uniforms with their red accents freaked me out. I don't know why.... red just intimidates me, I guess.


Yeah, I loved the KLM people. Although the Northwest and Meridiana people were pretty nice too... especially the Northwest ones. There were a lot of switches and such, but it was a great experience.... and over $300 cheaper than what my friend's sister spent to visit him the following week and only change planes once.