Story 5
by Irving and Seymore Grabinski
TJ Trip
submitted 11/11/97
One of the many jobs of an Extraboard is Tijuana trips. Yes, Tijuana, Mexico. This trip involved picking up some kids at Tijuana International Airport. These kids had been to the southern part of Mexico (Oaxaca to be exact (pronounced "wa-ha-ka")). They had been there for a week or so and were coming back to San Diego via TJ. There are two crossing of the International Border near San Diego, San Ysidro and Otay. San Ysidro is the main crossing point open 24 hours a day with Otay used mainly for commercial traffic, only open between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm.
The Extraboard assigned to this trip was to pick them up from a 9:30 pm arrival at the airport and take them to the SDUSD Education Center that Saturday. Sounds easy enough, huh?
The Extraboard decided to leave the bus yard about a half-hour early. The drive to the border only takes about 45 minutes. Now the TJ airport is actually closer to the Otay Crossing and that is where the Extraboard decided to cross the border. Arriving in the vicinity about 8:30 pm, the Extraboard decided to cross now rather than wait. When he pulled up to gate, the Mexican border authorities wanted to know where the driver was going. The Extraboard told them the Airport to pick up some passengers. They informed him that he could not cross there. They brought out a car and had the bus follow about 100 feet into Mexico and then right back to U.S. Customs who promptly sent the bus to Secondary Inspection.
Now Secondary Inspection is where they search your vehicle if they have any suspicion of illegal activities. The Extraboard tried to explain that he had only been 100 feet into Mexico and had been escorted back to boot. But Customs still wanted to check out all the cargo bays and the inside of the bus too (and went as far as to thump the ceiling of the bus in case something was hidden up there!). After about 10 minutes of searching they were satisfied and released the bus. Now the Extraboard figures he had better cross at San Ysidro. It is still only about 8:30 pm and takes only about 20 minutes to get to San Ysidro.
At San Ysidro the Extraboard is once again asked where he is going and once again replies the Airport to pick up some passengers. He is sent to Mexican Secondary Inspection. (We don't know why Mexico would need a Secondary Inspection, but they do. ( - the editors) Now the problem is communications. The Extraboard and Mexican Inspectors have hit a language barrier. Luckily there was a young couple there who were also in Secondary having their U-haul trailer searched. He was a Mexican citizen and she was a United States citizen. She was bilingual and was finally able to explain what the Extraboard was trying to do to the Authorities satisfaction. The Extraboard also found out that the Mexicans (and their Unions) were very concerned with any other buses picking up passengers from their Airport and possibly taking money away from the local bus drivers. The Extraboard was now able to proceed to the Airport.
Now a little about TJ. In the daytime, TJ is difficult enough to navigate through in a car. Street signs are hard to see and read. There may be a stop "Alto" sign across the street for the oncoming traffic but not on your side. You have to stop anyway or possibly get hit. Maps of TJ are available fortunately, but are not always up to date.
Got that? Now to complicate matters on this trip, the bus is 40 feet long, it is dark and it has been raining off and on all day. That was why the Extraboard went early. To learn the best route to the Airport and back. Luckily the Extraboard had been to another location near the Airport on a previous trip (during the day) and knew the way. Arriving at the Airport with about 15 minutes to spare, our intrepid Extraboard parked the bus in a safe location (near a functioning streetlight!) and went into the airport to check on the plane. The 9:30 pm flight from Oaxaca has been delayed and does not arrive until about 10:45 pm. Oh well. The passengers are found, get their luggage, lug it to the bus and the Extraboard assists them loading their luggage onto the bus. The trip back to San Ysidro goes fine.
Now the procedure for any bus bringing back passengers through U.S. Customs at San Ysidro is to drop the passengers with their luggage just before the gates. The passengers and their luggage are checked individually inside, just like any other people crossing the border. The bus is usually checked separately, the bus and passengers meet just past the building, reload and proceed. Normally.
Well, not this time. One of the students had planned to come back for one of their "packages" off of the bus. The Extraboard had left already and did not notice the "package" still inside the bus in one of the seats. At the gate, the Extraboard told the Customs official of the Airport pickup and was yet again sent (guess where?) to Secondary Inspection (third time is a charm). The bus is inspected once again and the "package" is found "hidden" in plain sight. The Customs official asked the Extraboard what was in the "package". The Extraboard had no idea of course. The official opened the box and inside was something wrapped in newspaper. About 50 layers. It took about 5 minutes to get off enough paper to see what was inside. A Samurai Sword! The Customs official put the sword down and instructed the Extraboard to follow him off the bus. The official called the main office and luckily the student had declared that he had a sword but had left it on the bus. The official and Extraboard returned to the bus and tried to put the sword back into it's "sleeve" of newspaper, but the sword was so sharp that it kept coming through the side of the newspapers. The Extraboard did not want to transport this weapon unsheathed for safety reasons. They finally got it back in.
If you remember earlier, we told of how easy it "usually" is to pick up the passengers.
Not when they put you in Secondary Inspection. The driver now could not get back to the passengers at the designated pickup location. The Extraboard knew of another loading zone near the last stop of the San Diego Trolley. It is used by San Diego Transit and Taxis on the U.S. side for passenger pick up and drops. The Extraboard could see his passengers but could not get to them. He told them to go to the other side and wait there. The Extraboard then had to go up to the next exit on the freeway and circle back to get them. Everyone was loaded back up and the bus arrived back at the Ed Center about 12:15 am.
During this whole evening the Extraboard was in radio contact with a dispatcher who had taken his portable radio home with him and was able to keep the local person in charge of the trip updated by phone. When the bus arrived at the Ed Center, all the parents were there because of the updates by phone.
The moral of this "saga" is:
Don't tell anyone at the border where you are going.
Look out for Samurai swords.
True Story!
We swear!
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