Thursday, November 04, 2004
The TGV -- Long Stop
On the last stop in Italy before we entered France the police entered the train. We were asked to show our passports or ID papers. No problem. The officers quickly moved on. A few minutes later two officers passed by with three men, escorting them and their luggage off the train. They fit the profile one expects the police profile -- right or wrong. Eventually, two women were taken off the train as well. About 7 police surrounded them, frisked them, checked papers with their infrared lights, and then called in the information over their radios. The train was stopped for 20 minutes by now. No one complained. It was all quite a sobering experience. As the train pulled out of the station with 5 less passengers, my husband remarked that "it sucks to be an immigrant."
-- said Auntie M in Paris
2:04 PM