“The lizard brain is hungry, scared, angry and horny”
Seth Godin
We always listen to Rock 101 on our morning drive into Vancouver and one of the hosts, Alece, was recently on the show discussing her upcoming trip to the United States and how the new cannabis laws might affect her as someone who enjoys smoking pot.
Now, I know Canada has technically legalized recreational cannabis but it still seems really reckless to be so frank about it right before crossing the border. I mean, you’re entering the United States!
But then something else occurred to me: she’s an attractive, young woman and that might effect how she is perceived by border guards. Basically, she might not be seen as a threat.
On the other hand, were it a man crossing the border (likely speaking to a male border guard) there would be that inescapable tension that exists between two men meeting in general, but which is heightened by a power dynamic such as the border. That inevitable jockeying for alpha position that requires the male citizen’s symbolic display of submission, as the border guard sniffs his butt and mounts him. Or, you know, as the citizen hands over his passport and solemnly answers the questions presented. Either way.
I suspect border guards think of themselves as professionals and above such baseness but there is obviously a large amount of discretion involved in wether they accept an answer on its face – or pursue questioning further.
I’d suggest that a border guard would be less likely to interrogate those they find attractive because on some monkey level they want that attractive person to like them. Fuck them even. Or in the alternative, fight them.
In truth, most human interactions have an element of this dominance game, this Fight or Fuck, with a hundred or so variations and useful sublimations. It is particularly noticeable at border crossings.
And occasionally at family dinners; wherein the right choice is obvious. I’d hope.