UAL Traveler,

I can assure you that American embassies and consulates in Asia are NOT the absolute worst -- the ones in Africa are! In the 1980s, when I was a fairly high-ranking government official, I did a lot of work in Africa. The local people were treated terribly, and unreasonably so, essentially all the time. Once I tried to get the local ambassador (a friend) to intervene, but he said that he was not permitted to do so under any circumstances.

Then, in 1988, my own passports (personal and government) were stolen in Amsterdam. I had to get a new one at the local consulate, and I was treated terribly. I really couldn't believe how rude the people were, and I was one of them, more or less! I can't imagine how "ordinary" citizens get treated.

I finally came to the conclusion that U.S. consular officials are raised on special farms where the "nicer" ones get rejected and sent to work at places like the IRS. Only the truly fearsome can work in an overseas consulate, and only the scariest of those can work in Africa.

Bruce