Originally Posted by
Fly-Me-to-the-Moon!
From my experience, I think ALL immigration officials in ALL countries attend the same "be rude to visitors" academy. They all treat you like a terrorist and they have been many occassions where I would say "Thank you and have a nice day!" they would respond by giving me nasty looks.
Either I have been very lucky or you haven't travelled much or only to certain countries. The vast majority of immigration officers I have dealt with are very polite and professional, and often even friendly. In my experience, the officers are exceptionally friendly in Australia, Singapore, Cuba (!) and Taiwan. USA and Canada are a hit-or-miss - in those countries I have had very pleasant and friendly officers as well as total a$$holes.