Hacker Manifest (Or: Seven Hours of Heathrow)

[rinue]

Every day, I thank the forces of the universe that I was born pretty, white, and female. The last one might seem odd - aren't men supposed to be the ones with the power? - but it is the definitive trait, the get-out-of-jail ne plus ultra. It is, as far as I can tell, the only thing that allows me to work inside the law (if on the outskirts). The white and the pretty just help me avoid getting hassled.

I'm writing this entry from Heathrow Airport, where I have been waiting several hours for Ciro to clear immigration. I'm guessing, after several conversations with immigration control officers, that he won't. Perhaps I am wrong; it is the same panic I always have when in contact with a governing body - I feel the same fear every time I fill in my taxes, pass a police car, or go through a toll booth, regardless of whether I'm doing something wrong. I am made nervous by even the post office, if the document is of any consequence; more so if a package is involved.

Systems don't know how to handle people like me. People like Ciro (for we are tremendously alike). Artists. Wanderers. People who don't fit neatly on official forms. That's a flag which might be red and might be checkered; either way, it means "government go; Romie stop." I've never had a steady job; I've never had a long-term address. But because I'm female, I can say "homemaker." Because I'm female, I can say "here is my parents' address" without them hearing "deadbeat." It's expected that some women won't have careers; that some women will be taken care of; that pretty white women have no need to break laws - no dangerous testosterone impulse.

It goes without saying that Ciro is not female.

I've never understood why immigration doesn't process you before you get on the plane, instead of after you debark. I can come up with reasons, but not good reasons. Archaic reasons, mostly. The other way would save a lot of time. And money. And anguish.

I'm not naturally atavistic. I'm not acquisitive. I've sometimes been told that money would make these problems go away, but I don't find that it does. Fame would, maybe - the right kind of fame - which is why I pursue it; people are more willing to believe the famous, or at least less likely to oppose their whims. Higher costs; media unfriendliness. Money doesn't have the same power. On the other hand, I've tried (and witnessed) the strategy of having powerful friends, and it's as ineffectual as money - perhaps fame is the same.

In the end, I'm not sure how to get along in this world, unless as an outlaw. In the end, I'm not sure how to get along as an outlaw.

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Ciro has been refused entry into the UK. They are not supposed to tell me why, but they have told me why. (Pretty, white, female. Insistent. In America, of course, we have opposite laws that protect the citizens instead of the government. These laws would allow me to demand every detail. But then, neither does America surveil me with hidden cameras, or track my every train ride.)

There are two reasons. One is that Ciro has all his CDs with him, and thus must mean to stay more than six months (the duration of a tourist visa). I have traveled with many more CDs for a much shorter visit - how can one know in advance what music will be desired in the moment? Presumably, this can be chalked to ignorance, or the slowness with which bureaucracies assimilate culture; as I look around me, I see dozens of people with 100-album I-Pods.

The other reason is that Ciro doesn't have any reason to be in the US right now. Therefore, they are sending him back to the US. In effect, he'd be allowed to stay here if only he wanted to be somewhere else.

Myself, I think the actual reason is that he's a man. A woman could say "my boyfriend will support me." A man would clearly look for work; his pride would drive him to.

(If you've wondered: English sexism is much more pronounced than American. Much worse. I try to learn from it - to make insights about cross-cultural approaches to gender - but most of the time, I'm too surprised to say more than: what?)

Although Ciro is only on the other side of a thin wall, I won't be allowed to see him. I'm on English soil; he isn't. They may find a way to let him call me; I'll wait here in the lobby until his flight departs. I don't know how the flight is being paid for [insert: the airline pays for it]; I do know it's to Boston. I know my parents will take care of him tonight. I don't know about tomorrow. I don't know about next month. I'll talk to him, talk to Dad, talk to the London Film School. I bought myself an egg salad sandwich, on the grounds that I like eggs. I bought a copy of the Economist so the world will seem friendly. It's hard to know anything. Y'know, people talk a lot of shit about America, but it took England to daily call me a liar.

Comments

[marveloustrick.livejournal.com]

I don't know what I can say...

I'll do everything I can do to help. Sharon could hire him, I guess. She wouldn't even have to pay him, just keep him on the books. I don't know.

That's the best I've got. I want you two to be together... you're perfect.

[rinue.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hon. We'll work something out; I might come back to the States, if that's what has to happen - the people at Boston University are excited about recruiting me. I don't really know what the options are yet, because I was never allowed to talk to Ciro. I think I heard his voice in the background during a phone call to the immigration desk, but I might have been imagining it. His plane should be touching down in Boston right about now, and once he gets back to my parents', they'll all give me a call. I'm more worried about him than anything else; he's in a much weaker position than I am. I can't imagine how much worse than me he must be feeling; it must be terrible for him.

My parents will house and feed him as long as necessary, of course; they'd be perfectly content letting him stay in Boston until I return for Christmas, and then he could come back to London with me if that's the way we want to work it. Or we could abandon the idea of him coming to England, and he could live wherever he wanted, and I could stay here. Or I could come back to live in the States, probably Boston for now. As I see it, these are the options. I probably ought to bias toward film school instead of toward Ciro, but I've been depressed and lonely for most of four years already (moments of happiness mainly creditable to you); I think that's enough, don't you?

Anyway, I'll talk to everybody later tonight, and depending on what's said, to the film school next week. (And of course, I wouldn't be so foolish as to drop out immediately; I'd just defer the next term until I knew for certain I wouldn't come back.) We'll be all right. We're too cool to not be all right.

love,
Romie

[solipsiae.livejournal.com]

My head is spinning. Your life is more outrageous than fiction. Keep us posted and let me know if there's any way I can (solicit) help.

[rinue.livejournal.com]

Thanks; I'll let you know if, for instance, I launch a "stern letter and finger-wagging" campaign. (And humor aside, thank you, genuinely.) You're right about the "more outrageous" part; it's a problem when I'm writing scripts that draw from actual experience - I have trouble making them believable. One of my screenwriting teachers told a great true story about guys trying to hide frozen turkeys under their coats while shoplifting, which the director rejected as too fanciful. Great image.

cheers,
Romie

[sixkilla.livejournal.com]

Did Ciro have a one way ticket or a return? When I flew to Canada to see Emily I had to prove I had money (cash), proof of destination and tell them I had no intention of working. Friends have told me this is the same in the US and one particular friend was stopped and questioned for 30 minutes because he had only a one way ticket. Perhaps the lack ease in contacting you was also a factor? I think it's pretty shitty that they sent him home to be honest, but you have to remember that most of the people they stop do not have a legitimate reason to come into the country. However I think blaming it on sexism or 'Artists. Wanderers. People who don't fit neatly on official forms' is naive at best.

[rinue.livejournal.com]

No, it's not. I've done plenty of international travel, and Ciro wasn't held for half an hour; he was held for seven. There wasn't trouble contacting me; I was there at the airport the entire time, and also speaking to the customs officials. Ciro was flying on a one-way ticket, but he had another ticket with another airline to leave the country. He had evidence of his bank accounts; I had evidence of my bank accounts. I was told flat out (as was he, as was also stated on the official paperwork) that he was refused entry because he didn't have a job back in the States and to make sure he had one before he reattempted entry to the UK. It was not enough that he had the numbers of several people who had employed him in the past and would again. It's not naievity; it's documented.

[rinue.livejournal.com]

And yes, I know he'd be stopped in the US as well (and was on his return); that's why we had all the supporting paperwork on us - which, incidentally, they tried to use to as evidence that we were trying to "fool" them. Whenever I provided more information, or supporting documents, they got angry at me. We also both got lectures on the US government's international policy seemingly out of the blue, which took up more time than the questioning. Ciro in particular was hassled for his skin tone, and when he objected, told that they were just doing it to show him what an official in the US might do. Way outside the scope of what needed to be said. Somebody somewhere had an axe to grind.

[rinue.livejournal.com]

As a matter of fact, one of the things they took most strongly against was a letter he had from me which said, roughly: "hey, you're going to get stopped, because you're flying on a one-way ticket. They're going to ask you whether you intend to marry here or seek work. Nope. They're going to ask where you're staying, who you're staying with, what flight you're leaving on. Here's all that info. There's going to be some question about the purpose of the visit, and whether you intend to make recourse to public funds. Visiting me; and no." They decided this was me "coaching" him to trick them, and I was told in no uncertain terms that no adult man could possibly need that information, regardless of his lack of experience flying internationally (especially since 9/11), unless there was skulduggery going on. They then took this as liberty to criticize the nature and dynamic of our relationship. Like I said, things got pretty inappropriate, and it wasn't me going on the attack.

[sixkilla.livejournal.com]

My apologies for assuming you were not there the entire time. The fact they phoned Emily led me to believe it was some while before you got there.
I would say that the letter would have definitley contributed (if not the reason) to him being asked to return home. People turn up all the time here with 'instructions' on what to say and how to act so they can get in. It doesn't excuse the way he might have been treated by a this individual though.
It's not just a UK airport problem. I think i would be turned away from the US/Canada if I had the same circumstances. Especially as we don't have biometric passports yet thus leading to more paranoia.
Im sad that it happened like that.