Best Laid Plans

We have been traveling in and out of Mexico for more than 20 years and have never, until today, had the need to visit the Immigration office. My wife is taking a belated Mother's Day trip to Long Beach, CA to visit our daughter for a week. Earlier this year, we obtained our Mexican FM3 Visas which enable us to live in the country longer than the six months allowed under a typical tourist visa. Imagine my wife's surprise when she went to get her boarding pass and the agent told her she still needed to turn in a tourist card, which we had surrendered when applying for our FM3s, before she could leave the country. Immigration was just down the concourse, but it was locked up tight. A call by the security guard, who we knew from playing beach volleyball, brought the immigration guy who took care of Shelley and a host of others who had arrived while we waited. I guess that is why one is supposed to show up at the airport a couple of hours early.