20 January 2013
624
R. Linda:
Can you imagine the paranoia involved in being contacted by Homeland Security telling you they will not release a package you ordered from abroad until they had your social security number? Well, this happened to a friend of mine.
Some years ago, her son was engaged to be married. The happy couple wanted a Celtic wedding, he Scottish, she Irish. The bride had a Celtic dress made for her and the groom wanted his family tartan made for him complete with fly plaid and matching flashes. Not to be outdone so did his dad, and the groomsmen (it was decided) should have kilt ensembles made to order. The mother was in charge of getting all this done.
She found there were no makers of kilts in her vicinity and so decided to contact a kilt maker in Scotland. This she did for her son and husband. She got the order in for complete kilt packages (which included the complete Bonnie Prince Charlie outfit of the kilt, jacket, vest, tuxedo shirt with bow tie, clan crest pin, dress sporran, kilt hose, tartan flashes, fly plaid, and clan crested agan dubh along with the Ghillie brogues). All custom made and a bit of money was put out, a couple thousand if not more for all this. When she found out she had to also get the two groomsmen outfitted and that rental did not have the family tartan she was forced to have these made. She looked for the cheap because the groomsmen were going to pay for their outfits and she knew they couldn't afford the top of the line. So she went to eBay, and yes she did. She found her husband's tartan and already knowing it came in the ancient tartan, the hunt tartan, or the modern tartan, decided to not get ancient or hunt since her husband was being outfitted in ancient and her son was in the hunt, she'd look into the modern for the groomsmen. Sounds great!
So she found the modern tartan of the family and ordered those up, along with the accessories. She found two Argyle jackets for less than the Prince Charlies so she got two of those. Shirts they could get their own, but she got two ties in the modern tartan along with the flashes and hose. No fly plaids, as she did not want to take away from the groom's ensemble. The Ghillies she found on the cheap along with the sporrans, knives and kilt pins ALL AT THE SAME EBAY STORE. Now all she had to do was sit back and wait for it all to arrive.
Some relative asked about the kilts and when told that the groomsmen were getting seal skin sporrans said, "You can't import those. They are illegal."
Well they came with no problem and perhaps they are not seal skin at all but a fabulous fake! Most everything for the groomsmen started to come until she got a phone call from London. This very foreign voice on the other end of the phone told her how much he appreciated her business (the order for the groomsmen) and he wondered if she'd like to open an extension of his store in America. He would send her the goods and she'd get a commission on what she sold. Well, if you knew this lady like I know her, the last thing she would want to do, is open a store for Scottish goods. Her life was very nice thank you very much and she didn't need the hassle or extra income. SO NO. He was disappointed and she was suspicious because he sounded like he had an accent from India or someplace like that, not Scotland. Well, she found it strange she did, but she was too busy with wedding plans that she forgot about it UNTIL she was awaiting the two kilts. Those were the last of the groomsman's outfits to arrive and she was stumped. Everything else came pretty quickly, but the main part of the wardrobe was missing!
She was going through her receipts when the phone rang and she glanced at the caller ID and it was telling her it was a government call (I think it actually did say Homeland Security, but she couldn't remember). So she picks up the phone and a woman identifies herself and tells her that customs is holding a package from Pakistan for her. It is from such and such a company. Our mother right away recognises the name of the shop! WHAT IS THIS? Well, HS needs her social security number and other personal information to release it. Well, our mam is not liking the idea of giving out her social security number over the phone and even said, "Don't you have access to all that information?"
No, said the woman it is not information they can access without a court order and this is merely a formality over a package in customs from a country that isn't exactly known to be friendly. They noticed that the Mrs. had received at least 11 packages from Pakistan and that got their attention. Oh boy. Further, they understood her reluctance to give out the number, but it would go on file for one day as the package was forwarded on and then her SS number would be destroyed from HS records. She could take the night to think about it and call back at HS the next day. OK. She did think about it, and voicing her concern she reluctantly gave it to HS because the wedding was a week away and she needed those kilts! Yes, she did.
A few days later the kilts arrived and there was paperwork with Homeland Security attached. Now, our mother of the groom had NOT looked at the return address but she did this time and sure enough -- Pakistan! Say what? Well, she went online and looked and it said LONDON was the business contact, but the location of goods were not given. If you go to eBay now, you will find both the seller's location as well as the location of the item for sale. So things have changed since the day.
Anyway, it seemed as the years progressed, every time Mrs. would go on a trip abroad, she would be taken out of line for the full body scan. Yes, every single time. To see her you'd never think her a terrorist. She has blond hair, looks like Ava Gabor (in her Green Acres Days), and is tall, statuesque and well-dressed. Her husband joked it was because she was so nice looking they had to see if what was under the clothing was real. As you can imagine she did not find his quip funny, nor did she like being taken out of line every single time for the full body scan.
It has dawned on her that she is probably on a watch list, all because her packages came from Pakistan. I had to laugh but she could be right. She's convinced of it. She was ever so happy to hear the Rapiscan has been ordered to make its software function without screeners having to view naked images. That still doesn't make her happy she's probably on the watch list because she shopped on eBay!
The moral of the story is to watch where you buy stuff. And I have seen the outfits and they certainly look authentic Scottish. Even the labels say Scotland. So how is this possible? Do they buy Scottish goods, ship them to the kilt wears of Pakistan and then shop what they don't want out? I know, I'm being a ninny. But you have to admit it is all very strange.
Gabe
Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved
R. Linda:
Can you imagine the paranoia involved in being contacted by Homeland Security telling you they will not release a package you ordered from abroad until they had your social security number? Well, this happened to a friend of mine.
Some years ago, her son was engaged to be married. The happy couple wanted a Celtic wedding, he Scottish, she Irish. The bride had a Celtic dress made for her and the groom wanted his family tartan made for him complete with fly plaid and matching flashes. Not to be outdone so did his dad, and the groomsmen (it was decided) should have kilt ensembles made to order. The mother was in charge of getting all this done.
She found there were no makers of kilts in her vicinity and so decided to contact a kilt maker in Scotland. This she did for her son and husband. She got the order in for complete kilt packages (which included the complete Bonnie Prince Charlie outfit of the kilt, jacket, vest, tuxedo shirt with bow tie, clan crest pin, dress sporran, kilt hose, tartan flashes, fly plaid, and clan crested agan dubh along with the Ghillie brogues). All custom made and a bit of money was put out, a couple thousand if not more for all this. When she found out she had to also get the two groomsmen outfitted and that rental did not have the family tartan she was forced to have these made. She looked for the cheap because the groomsmen were going to pay for their outfits and she knew they couldn't afford the top of the line. So she went to eBay, and yes she did. She found her husband's tartan and already knowing it came in the ancient tartan, the hunt tartan, or the modern tartan, decided to not get ancient or hunt since her husband was being outfitted in ancient and her son was in the hunt, she'd look into the modern for the groomsmen. Sounds great!
So she found the modern tartan of the family and ordered those up, along with the accessories. She found two Argyle jackets for less than the Prince Charlies so she got two of those. Shirts they could get their own, but she got two ties in the modern tartan along with the flashes and hose. No fly plaids, as she did not want to take away from the groom's ensemble. The Ghillies she found on the cheap along with the sporrans, knives and kilt pins ALL AT THE SAME EBAY STORE. Now all she had to do was sit back and wait for it all to arrive.
Some relative asked about the kilts and when told that the groomsmen were getting seal skin sporrans said, "You can't import those. They are illegal."
Well they came with no problem and perhaps they are not seal skin at all but a fabulous fake! Most everything for the groomsmen started to come until she got a phone call from London. This very foreign voice on the other end of the phone told her how much he appreciated her business (the order for the groomsmen) and he wondered if she'd like to open an extension of his store in America. He would send her the goods and she'd get a commission on what she sold. Well, if you knew this lady like I know her, the last thing she would want to do, is open a store for Scottish goods. Her life was very nice thank you very much and she didn't need the hassle or extra income. SO NO. He was disappointed and she was suspicious because he sounded like he had an accent from India or someplace like that, not Scotland. Well, she found it strange she did, but she was too busy with wedding plans that she forgot about it UNTIL she was awaiting the two kilts. Those were the last of the groomsman's outfits to arrive and she was stumped. Everything else came pretty quickly, but the main part of the wardrobe was missing!
She was going through her receipts when the phone rang and she glanced at the caller ID and it was telling her it was a government call (I think it actually did say Homeland Security, but she couldn't remember). So she picks up the phone and a woman identifies herself and tells her that customs is holding a package from Pakistan for her. It is from such and such a company. Our mother right away recognises the name of the shop! WHAT IS THIS? Well, HS needs her social security number and other personal information to release it. Well, our mam is not liking the idea of giving out her social security number over the phone and even said, "Don't you have access to all that information?"
No, said the woman it is not information they can access without a court order and this is merely a formality over a package in customs from a country that isn't exactly known to be friendly. They noticed that the Mrs. had received at least 11 packages from Pakistan and that got their attention. Oh boy. Further, they understood her reluctance to give out the number, but it would go on file for one day as the package was forwarded on and then her SS number would be destroyed from HS records. She could take the night to think about it and call back at HS the next day. OK. She did think about it, and voicing her concern she reluctantly gave it to HS because the wedding was a week away and she needed those kilts! Yes, she did.
A few days later the kilts arrived and there was paperwork with Homeland Security attached. Now, our mother of the groom had NOT looked at the return address but she did this time and sure enough -- Pakistan! Say what? Well, she went online and looked and it said LONDON was the business contact, but the location of goods were not given. If you go to eBay now, you will find both the seller's location as well as the location of the item for sale. So things have changed since the day.
Anyway, it seemed as the years progressed, every time Mrs. would go on a trip abroad, she would be taken out of line for the full body scan. Yes, every single time. To see her you'd never think her a terrorist. She has blond hair, looks like Ava Gabor (in her Green Acres Days), and is tall, statuesque and well-dressed. Her husband joked it was because she was so nice looking they had to see if what was under the clothing was real. As you can imagine she did not find his quip funny, nor did she like being taken out of line every single time for the full body scan.
It has dawned on her that she is probably on a watch list, all because her packages came from Pakistan. I had to laugh but she could be right. She's convinced of it. She was ever so happy to hear the Rapiscan has been ordered to make its software function without screeners having to view naked images. That still doesn't make her happy she's probably on the watch list because she shopped on eBay!
The moral of the story is to watch where you buy stuff. And I have seen the outfits and they certainly look authentic Scottish. Even the labels say Scotland. So how is this possible? Do they buy Scottish goods, ship them to the kilt wears of Pakistan and then shop what they don't want out? I know, I'm being a ninny. But you have to admit it is all very strange.
Gabe
Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved
