My friends and I went to Mexico in May. I was the only one from the States. Mexico, England, and Egypt were also represented among us. We had had an awesome time exploring northern Baja, but finally it was time to wend our way through Tijuana and cross the border back into the United States. Ever since September 11, when I try to get into the U.S. from another country, it's been a hassle. As I inched the car forward, I watched to see what the border officer was doing at the front of the line. He'd exchange a few words with the driver, and then wave them through. He did the same thing with our car...almost."Where are you folks from?" the officer asked.

"L.A." I answered.

"Do you have anything to declare? Any fruit?"

"Nope." I answered.

"OK, then..." he said, taking a step backwards.

I saw his hand flinch as if to wave us through, while at the same time he bent down to get a good look at the people in the back seat. His gaze stopped on the tall young man with dark curly hair, tanned skin, and big brown eyes. He sighed and told us he would need to see ID from everyone in the car.

Sure enough, three of us got our stuff back, but our friend from Cairo did not. We were sent to a different building off the road and told to wait while our friend was taken away. As he was led to a restricted area, we stood by the car and waited and worried.

We watched with interest the other people detained. Were they like us? Did they "look" Middle Eastern? Did they "look" young and ambitious? I got a chuckle out of seeing a car with four Mexican nuns pull in beside us. God will take care of a lot of things, but it's up to you to remember your passport! A large empty car pulled up next to the nuns. Two officers spoke to the young driver, and asked him to open the trunk for them. Four people climbed out! They were all handcuffed immediately and taken away.

We continued to wait while there was still no sign of our Egyptian friend. We couldn't avoid the obvious any longer, and we started talking about racial profiling.

Since this incident, I was told by one New Yorker friend of mine that she was glad to hear what had happened to us. After the terrorist attacks that still leave her unsettled, she said she feels safer knowing that our interests are being looked after at the border.

But isn't this the type of ignorance that put us into jeopardy to begin with? Weren't we too focused on what we thought was the threat, and left ourselves completely exposed? We had sloppy security on planes. We left flight schools unmonitored. Does it send up big red warning flags to anyone else besides me that to focus only on healthy, young, dark men opens us up to an attack by someone else?

The more I think about it, the more it fries me. Why was he considered more of a threat than me? Theoretically, I am an equal threat to the country. I was in the car with him. Theoretically, as his driver, I could have been everywhere that he had been. And yet, the officer barely blinked at me. Apparently blonde women nearing middle age are not yet frightening to the United States.

Choosing a national threat based on physical appearance is stupid. It shows our ignorance as a nation and alienates many-both foreigners and citizens. And it's dangerous! Each one of us has the potential to be a noble human being or a terrorist, and our choice is in no way related to our hair color. As long as we THINK we know who is threatening, we aren't going to pay the right amount of attention to anyone.

If we remain afraid of young dark men, we will miss out on potential friends. If we remain trustful of old, fair-skinned females, we will run the risk of putting ourselves into danger. Difficult as it may sound, officers at the border should target everyone. They should do random checks in the way that luggage and people are searched at airports.

I know this is a crazy thing to ask, but I beg of you: evaluate each person equally and individually!

An hour and a half after entering Tijuana, we crossed the border into California. All the background checks came up clean. His story checked out, and they discovered he was, indeed, an Egyptian studying in Los Angeles. For his part, my friend was remarkably composed about the whole ordeal. However, the incident planted a seed of discontent in me. And because I don't fit the target population for racial profiling... they know nothing about me. For example, they don't know I am not from L.A., and there was a banana in the car.