Dan here. So, a short-tempered American walks up to a Jordanian security officer. Words are exchanged. Fisticuffs ensue. An hour later, the American is under arrest. He still has a cell phone, and he calls his embassy. An American detained by foreign police! Surely the United States Embassy will do something!
As you know, I am responsible for helping American citizens in Jordan. Most of the time, people want only the basics: a passport renewed, a document notarized.
Then there are the Americans who expect more services.
Most of them are due for a reality check.
(Image Left) The Consular Services Strike Force Unit
Important disclaimer: does not exist
When I arrived almost two months ago, I was issued a Blackberry on my first day. It is now clear that this is not a perk. When I meet other embassy workers and tell them I am in the Consular office, they say wow, that must be hard, hard work. Then I specify that I help American citizens, and they usually groan, and share a story about when they had to call the American Citizen Services officer (me) in the middle of the night. Everyone has a story.
Thousands of Americans are visiting Jordan this summer. A few of them are going to get into trouble. Instead of showing respect to the local authorities and the host country, they boast “but I am an American! I will call my Embassy!”
This has never, ever helped their situation.
During Consular class back in DC, our instructors shared American citizen stories with us. Everyone has a story. My classmates and I wondered aloud, what movie did these Americans see? What television show did they watch? When has Hollywood ever portrayed an Embassy or Consular officer in a positive light? Haven’t these people seen Midnight Express? Remember in Babel, when Cate Blanchett has been shot and is slowly bleeding to death? The faceless officer on the phone tells Brad Pitt, “We are still requesting the local government to grant clearance for a MedEvac helicopter. It could take 2 more days.” Now that’s realistic!
What did the short-tempered American expect I would do? Swoop in with a Humvee and a badge and whisk him out of the police station? He certainly did not expect me to start reading him phone numbers of local lawyers, which was all I could do for him. “But I didn’t do anything! You have to tell them!”
It slowly dawns on them. Like the schoolyard threat of my dad is gonna beat up your dad. When in fact, our dads needed to coexist in a community, and were never going to beat up one another over a schoolyard scrape.
2 comments:
lol. wow..great story. I mean, not great for the guy under arrest, or really, for you who has to deal with him. But, for me to read! hee hee!
It was a very interesting story. I would bet that your job is very interesting. It seems hard that you need to wake up the American people, that if they do wrong. They will end up in prison, end of story. They should realize that they are in a foreign country, and the country has rules and regs. I think your job would be interesting, demanding, and sometimes a great big pain in the neck.
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