I mentioned in my Slacker post that we had been to the Windsor casino last Thursday with Martha. We liked it so much we decided to go again on Tuesday the 18th and Jeannette made the reservations. When we get on the Windsor bus we have to show our proper ID so the bus driver will know that there will be no problems at the border. Usually we flash the passport pictures and get on the bus. This day, there was a little delay getting on the bus and after flashing the picture page, Martha closed her passport and the bus driver saw that it said Canadian.
He asked to see her green card. He asked a little belligerently. She didn't understand the request, not having had a green card for almost 25 years. Jeannette tried to find out why he thought she needed one. The way I understand it is that a green card is necessary for aliens who wish to live and/or work in the US. Martha lives is Quebec City, Quebec, Canada and was just here visiting Jeannette for the week. The bus driver was listening to no one and kept hollering "Lady, let me do my job." It was the day after Martha's 85th birthday and she was visibly shaken.
The upshot was that he wouldn't let Martha on the bus, and she and Jeannette went back home, got Jeannette's car and drove to Windsor where they met up with me and Rita for the day. Rita and I took the bus anyways in order to get our $15.00 bus packets, then we drove home with Jeannette.
We heard the driver explaining to some of the front passengers who had witnessed the demonstration that Martha would have been able to go over on the bus, but she would not have been able to come back. Bringing her into Canada would have been no problem since she was a Canadian citizen resident. He is not allowed to bring any Canadian citizens across the border to the US on his bus without sufficient entry documents.
Jeannette got the full explanation from the bus company supervisor when she called to complain. She still lodged a complaint against the driver for his intimidating, belligerent manner, and failure to explain at the time.
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3 comments:
What a predicament. Does that mean that all of our Canadian relatives can no longer come to the U.S. to visit without a green card? And how did the bus driver think that she got here without a green card to visit Jeanette to begin with? Do you know what the bus company said to Jeanette by way of explanation?
Wow, what a weird policy. I hope Martha won a lot of money in order to make it worth it.
The bus company explained to Jeannette that since their bus is an excursion bus and not a transportation bus they were not allowed to bring non citizens into the US without proper entry documents.
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