Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 06, 2021

I guess the French customs agents pretended not to speak English.

This series of reprints skipped a piece of this storyline because they instead print new ones from Mr. Trudeau on Sundays. Sweet too because it got a still young Alex involved. (see the original from Aug 4, 1996). https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1996/08/04?ct=v&cti=577563

The date being superimposed on Kim’s right forearm in the first panel tricked me for a moment into seeing a tattoo there. The thought occurs that there may have been a missed opportunity in the audience’s never knowning where Kim’s tattoo is. Trudeau could have made a good gag of it.

Yes, of course Kim has a tattoo: it’s a given for anyone of that generation in the U.S.

Having some Freedom Fries with that Jesus juice?

In the 90s when this strip was written, I made several business trips to Paris. Customs consisted of walking to the nothing to declare line and holding up my passport. I imagine it’s tougher now.

My favorite things…coding and a glass of wine…

Still looking forward to when Kim meets JJ

Because of that thing upon which the sun never sets, 142 countries now mandate that public schools teach English…

I had no problems with French customs…. There was a 4th of July party at the American Consulate in Nice back in the early 1980s given when my husband’s ship was in port in Ville Franche, and the elderly French ladies had the worst manners imaginable! Talk about pushy, and greedy! My grandmother, who had been on a couple diplomatic tours in Europe when my grandfather was an admiral, had warned me that the French were arrogant, but she had not mentioned bad manners.

Like the ending to Gordon Jenkins’s “Seven Dreams,” where the alarm rings and the happy couple agrees to ignore it.

That would do it. The one time I went through Customs was a real pain.

And, I had “Nothing to Declare” because I shipped all my “Loot” home so I wouldn’t have to lug around a heavy suitcase.

For some reason, they seemed really worried that I might bring home so Japanese Food.

I didn’t. Plus, I didn’t mention the 2 dozen large Chocolate bars from Finland that I’d picked up on my last day in Japan. (They were Free. Long story) Really Good Chocolate. One pound bars. They were packed at the Very Bottom of the suitcase and the Customs guys were apparently really Tired from a long day of asking: “Anything to declare?”.

I figured that, since they were Free, I didn’t owe any Taxes on them.

@BE THIS GUY. Thank you. Malcome’s xenophobia reinforces the stereotype of the “Ugly American”.

EXPERIENCE AT CUSTOMS IN LONDON,ENGLAND

I had a bunch of canned food I’d bought at Selfridge’s Dept.Store confiscated because“the cans are potential weapons”.

When I cleared customs,I passed a duty-free store where the same stuff was being sold.

I love the “Summer Daydream” method to throw in plot twists that turn out to be real.