Before I start I must say that I do know the rules of border crossings:

-yes or no answers where possible
-only speak to or answer questions,
-don't offer any extra information.

In my defense, I can only say that I was operating
on very little sleep, about one hour from the night before my extra early
flight, and only 4 hours the night before that.

 I had my luggage searched when I crossed
the border on my way to Oahu.

I've never had this happen before.

Looking back, I think it may have been possible to avoid this.

As you probably know, there are several steps along the way when flying to a different
country when various people ask you the same questions.

Everyone around me seemed to be going to the big conference. Being the odd one out, I had to
explain several times that I was just on vacation, and that, while I was
currently on my own, my friends were on the later flight and I would be
meeting up with them later that night.

After about the forth time through this, for some reason still unknown to me, I told the next person that I was
meeting a friend in Hawaii. Almost as soon as I said this, I sensed that it
wasn't quite the right answer. I'm not quoting here, but it then went something like this:

Her: Is your friend a man or a woman?
Me: He's a man.
Her: Will you be staying with him?
Me: No, I'll be staying in a hotel.
Her: How many times have you visited before?
Me: This is the first time.
Her: Has he been to Canada to visit you?
Me: No, we've just sent e-mail.
Her: How did you meet?
Me: Through a mutual friend.

Then I got this look. She jotted something down on my card and I knew,
without a doubt, the big mistake I had made. She continued with a few more
mundane questions, (how long are you staying, etc) before handing back the
card and telling me to carry on to the next stop. I actually walked away
thinking, okay, that wasn't too bad after all. Silly me.

At the next stop, I handed over my card, and was told that I had been
randomly selected to have my luggage searched. I was a bit more alert by
this point, and since there didn't appear to be any sort of device nearby
that could be used for this random selection, I have to say I didn't believe
him. He pointed me to a side room and I headed over there with a feeling
of dread. I was sure there would be more questions. Fortunately, I had a
very nice, friendly lady come over and make pleasant conversation while
going through my things. She finished quickly, didn't give me any of those
weird looks like I had just received previously, and wished me a happy
holiday as I went on my way.

I suppose it is possible that I really was chosen randomly, but for some
reason, I just don't think that was the case. I'm pretty sure it sounded
like I'd been set up to smuggle something into the US.

I'm just glad I wasn't strip searched!

{moscomment}