To Stu Jackson: Yea, I know!
Hey, John, how come we can't get the Coast Guard boarding parties to wear those?
That's one of my pet peeves.
When I clear customs in Blaine which is right at the US/Canadian border, I get a group these jerks wearing polished (that's important!) black leather foot-high GI boots with their "army-green" (or what ever color you want to call it) pant legs tucked in (we did it like that in boot camp) that like to just climb aboard and tromp over everything. You can't tell them a damn thing because they're "Homeland Security" and they could be saving the country from a terrorist.
What works for a steel container ship or a barge doesn't really work for a personal fiberglass "yacht" but our Senators, Representatives, and the White House just don't seems to see it that way. They're too busy doing other stuff that's a lot more important and they're not about to change any rules for a minority of little yachties.
Their "dress code" is a one-size-fits-all. To issue some kind of a slip-on bootie like they have at boat shows.... well, that'd make them look like sissies, be too expensive, or there is no military issue for that kind of thing.
My preference is to try and avoid Blaine and clear through Port Townsend where there is only one guy (due to budget and staffing I suppose) and we have to call in ahead. He is beginning to know us now so that's a good thing, he likes his job, and he is courteous, as we are to him. Same organization but a different way of thinking.
Stu - see, now you went and did it. (pushed my button!)
