She was also left in a room crying, with her cell phone taken away, stripped down, in a foreign country and not able to communicate because she didn't know the language. If I was put in a similar situation I would be scared too.
It is a terribly awful story and that's why I posted it. Sure we will get over it but I don't want her to go back home thinking America is an awful place. She is sure happy to see the baby though but I know she will tell family in Lithuania just how it happened and with the size of the family back there, 40 cousins and aunts, uncles and so on it will be news. It will be news that stinks.
It reminds me a little when an old college friend got pulled over in Baja California by the Mexican Federales. He had to pay them $100 or so to be let go. He said he hadn't done anything wrong and I believed him because at that time everyone even the local news people were talking about how Americans were getting shook down in Baja.
I may yet give this story to the media along with a list of ideas that have popped up here in this thread.
Why in the world didn't you make arrangements to meet your aged grandmother when she exited the plane?
..or have an airline agent help her through customs.
If you went to ALL the trouble to get her over here, why in the world didn't you take extra precaution to get her off the plane with assistance?
Seems to me common sense would prevail in this situation.
Many of us are a bit skeptical that you didn't know or try to find out what resources you had when it came to assisting your grandmother.
Did you not even call airline authorities or custom agency to ask questions?
Or is it easier to blame someone once the 'incident' happens.
I can't imagine letting my aged grandmother travel without assistance or helps once she arrives.
We would really like the answers to these questions.