1. Chairman of a major US corporation (no longer existing after being bought and all units spun off), on hearing that I was taking a trip from HQ in NY to Tokyo, Japan: Great, why don't you stop off in Australia on your way there...

2. Clerk at Federal Reserve Bank branch in Boston, when I went to cash in some US savings bonds, and being shown my US passport upon her asking if I was a US citizen, "Don't you have any other form of identification to show that you're a US citizen?" "Well, I just gave you my US passport..." She then said, "No, that doesn't prove you're a US citizen... you need a driver's license or something like that."

3. Just yesterday on Emirates flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong, some young lady was asking around if anyone at the gate lounge was going to Johannesburg, and had an extra 7 kg of carry on luggage allowance that she could fit her over the limit carry on luggage into. How she got that far after check in and security check, I'm not sure, but then asking another passenger to assume ownership of your carry on luggage, in this day and age, is just not on. The three or so waiting pax in our immediate area gave her a look that basically said, "Are you nuts?"