Hi,
 
Last week was doing some geological research near Slovenian /Austrian border.
It was is in the montain area which is not very populated.When returning to the
valley
police jeep blocked the road.They wanted me to show papers,they also checked
my baggage,which is not usual practise.I was wondering why and they told me
someone reported that a stranger (me) is probably smuggling Albanian refugees
over the border.I told them I'm a geologist and to proove it,I showed them my
maps and compass.After they saw the maps,I became even more suspicious.They let
me go me after an hour.
Two days later I met a forester.After a short talk he warned me that police is
looking for me.Few hors later  they found me and I was told someone reported
that I probably smuggle drugs over the border.They checked my car and found an
injection on the front seat.I use it for splashing an acid over rocks.Again it
took more than half an hour to explain them everything.
An area where I worked is almost unpopulated and every stranger is suspicious
to the local farmers,because in the past (before Yugoslavia split apart) people
were re illegaly passing the border
That's my experience.
Best regards,Milan.
 
 
"Andrew K. Rindsberg" wrote:
 
> Aydin Orstan makes an excellent point about collecting gear resembling drug
> paraphernalia.
>
> One night, I was driving on the interstate highway while struggling to
> close a jacket zipper. The zipper was uncooperative, and I wove the truck a
> bit. Then I noticed that a car was tailgating me (American slang for
> "following very closely"). Irritated, I slowed down, hoping that the
> tailgater would use the unoccupied left lane to pass me. Instead, he slowed
> down to match my speed. I slowed down some more, with the same result. When
> I slowed down even more, the tailgater burst into flashing blue light. It
> was a police car, and the two policemen inside were suspicious that my
> driving habits indicated that I was on drugs. They were even more
> suspicious when they saw packages of plastic bags, which drug dealers
> commonly use for their wares. The fact that some of the bags contained
> fossils did not impress them at first, but after I pointed out the geologic
> hammer, the coffee mug emblazoned "Geological Society of Alabama, 25th
> Anniversary", and my identification card as an employee of the Geological
> Survey of Alabama, they let me go without further delay.
>
> What we have to go through to collect shells in a crazy world!
>
> Andrew K. Rindsberg
> Geological Survey of Alabama
> Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA