Today I went to the US embassy for the first time, and it was an eye-opening experience. Let me first say, I was looking forward to this. I've seen enough spy movies with Americans diving into the embassy and safety at the last possible moment to be childishly excited by going there. As I walked in (through a massive security checkpoint where they took my computer for the duration of my visit) I imagined Matt Damon as Jason Bourne dodging through the building, trying to catch bad guys or something. I went to get some more pages put in my passport (it's full - how cool is that!) so I can go to the Belvedere Art Museum in Vienna in a couple weeks.
It was fairly busy, so I got to watch a few Hungarian people go through the security line in front of me. The guard was brusque and efficient with them, but when he heard my accent-less English he broke into a wide smile and started chatting amicably with me. He asked me where I was from, why I was in Budapest, and the other standard questions (as he took away my beloved laptop, probably to put some sort of spy tracking device in it...). It felt really good to be treated nicely.
In the waiting room they have a machine that gives you a number depending on which button you push. There were about two dozen people waiting, so I pressed the "US Citizen" button and settled into a comfy chair with my book (Open Heart by Frederick Buechner). Much to my surprise, I got to read all of about a paragraph before my number was called. When I got to the window I asked if there hadn't been some mistake. I was assured that all those people were Hungarians there to apply for visas, and I didn't have to wait for them. Again, it felt good to be kind of special, but also awkward.
I guess you can argue that, as an American, it's my embassy and I should be treated that way. However, that's the attitude of entitlement that really angers me about so many Americans. I wanted to say something - but how do you complain about something like that? So I leave it for you to decide for yourself. Maybe this is a symptom of a larger ideological problem. Or maybe I'm just overly sensitive.
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"Humility, that low, sweet root, From which all heavenly virtues shoot" - Thomas More
5 comments:
I understand what you mean. But I'm not really sure that's it's wrong. For a couple of reasons. One, what you were doing is much faster than the visa paperwork and interviews, as is basically everything else that a U.S. citizen would do in consular services. Two, special treatment like this doesn't imply inherent inequality but a fact of status and the stated goal of the consulate. If the embassy were a church, we'd have a problem, but in fact it's a government agency whose raison d'être is its citizens.
Well, I guess it would depend on whether other embassies do the same thing for their citizens. I mean, if American embassies are the only ones that treat their citizens in a special way, then I guess that does contribute to the "me first" American image, but I would guess that other countries' embassies do the exact same thing.
Guess what??! Last Friday I got an email from my host sister in Szamosszeg!! I don't know how she found me, but it was really exciting. She wanted to know if I remembered her (Of course I do!!). So now we're corresponding. Whee!
Guess what else! I'm the Calvin Band president for next year. Uh oh, watch out!
Hey, when are you coming back to the US?
Hey, the Swan! Good to hear from you! I've yet to get back to Szamosszeg, but maybe one of these days I'll hop a train over there. You should really come to Hungary to visit your "sister," and then swing by Budapest! And Sam, are you using French in my blog comments? I don't know if I can handle that sort of culture. But I guess the conclusion is that I'm overly sensitive. Bummer.
Oops - I forgot to mention I'm flying into Seattle on June 16. And the Calvin Band will never know what hit it!
Wonder where you get that hyper-sensitive nature? Oh well… What you experienced at the embassy resonates with something I once experienced in an immigration line in a US airport after returning from Europe. For various reasons, my companions and I ended up in the line for “others”. I found out that while I have no problem with US citizens having separate lines and “unequal” treatment in embassies and airports, I do have a big problem with US immigration employees treating visitors to the US quite rudely. It was not a fun nor a comfortable situation. It was an eye-opener but I confess that my outrage was soon overcome by my strong desire to let the powers-that-be know that we were in the wrong line.
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