Daft Musings

by Carolyn Bickford

Menu
  • Seven Years Gone and A Pandemic In Between (Tales of an ex-Californian in Tennessee)
  • Share Your Craziest COVID Memories Here
  • The COVID Masks
  • Old Journalistic Ethics vs. Social Media Screeds (updated below)
  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy
Menu

The Great Passport Wait

Posted on March 16, 2007 by cjbickford

As an adult, long-term passport holder, all I have to do to renew my passport is mail in the right forms, pictures, and payment. But as I was focused on my passport, I noticed Neil’s passport is about to expire, and it really might not be a bad idea to get Kelly her own passport, too. Unfortunately (though for good reason), new passports and children’s passports need to be processed in person, and both parents need to be there, with both valid I.D. and proof of parentage.

So this morning, our whole family decamped on the Meridian post office’s passport processing office. When we arrived, we pulled #97–and the number being served at the moment was #61. The room was nearly full, and with 3 or 4 agents needing at least 5 minutes to process each application, we were clearly in for a long wait. I told Peter to go to the office with the breakfast for the staff, and that I would call him when we were close to being served.

Right now is one of the worst possible times to need a new passport. Previously, if you wanted to travel to Mexico, Canada, or the Caribbean, all you needed was a driver’s license, and your social security card (or American birth certificate.) Recently, that’s changed, so all travel, even within North America, requires a passport. It’s almost exactly the opposite of what the EU is doing these days.

For security and safety, I think the new regulations are a good idea. But it also means a lot of people who casually travelled between North American countries, for pleasure or business, now need a passport. As a result, travellers who never had had a passport before suddenly need to get one for the first time–which also means they have to appear in person at a passport office. If you need to go anywhere in the next three months, and you don’t have a valid passport, you’re going to have to pony up a hefty surcharge to get that passport in your hands before you need it.

Government offices do sometimes make an attempt to be cheerful, but they always fail. This one had an old VCR playing worn children’s movies as entertainment, but I think all the cellphones in the room interfered with it, often making the TV give off an annoying buzz. They also upped the services to include taking passport photos right at the office (for $12–about the same what other places charge for similar photos), which means people with ineligible photos don’t need to wait 2 hours to find out about, go someplace else, and come back to wait for another 2 hours. I ended up sitting in a corner with a bunch of other people who were all intently watching the board with the number being served on it, and we all rolled our eyes, when, as so often happened, someone would show up and plead service, saying they’d been sleeping or eating outside or simply spacing out, when their number had been called–20 numbers ago.

Peter and the kids returned with about 7 numbers to go. I cheered when our number was called, and ran up like I’d just won a big prize. The agent didn’t care, but at least we had our papers more or less in order, and by June, we’ll all be ready to be world travellers (again.)

Category: Daft Musings

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Seven Years Gone and A Pandemic In Between (Tales of an ex-Californian in Tennessee)
  • Perspectives on Theranos 2: Some Good Ideas
  • Perspectives on Theranos: Silicon Valley Kool-Aid Culture
  • COVID Vaccines in 100 Days or Less
  • The Fun of Unscientific Social Distancing Markers

Recent Comments

  • George Haberberger on Concern Trolling Control Freaks
  • Roll With It: Diving into 2021 – Daft Musings on Hippie Hiking Adventures in TN
  • cjbickford on Performers and Audiences in the Pandemic Looking Glass
  • George Haberberger on Performers and Audiences in the Pandemic Looking Glass
  • George Haberberger on Destroying People and Freedom with the Power of the Perpetually Offended

Archives

  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • November 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • August 2019
  • February 2019
  • September 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • August 2017
  • February 2017
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • February 2016
  • October 2015
  • June 2015
  • January 2015
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007

Categories

  • art & fashion
  • Cult of Personality
  • Daft Musings
  • Death
  • Death to COVID
  • Education
  • Environmentalist Ramblings
  • Germany
  • Holiday Ideas
  • How Covid Changed Us
  • Idiot Thieves
  • Local Lore
  • music
  • Nashville
  • Our Amazing Cross-Country Road Trip
  • Out & About
  • Parking It
  • Parties
  • Pointless Complaining about Gas Prices
  • Religion
  • San Diego Comic Con
  • Southwest Tour 2014
  • Taxes Suck
  • The Next Great American Band
  • Travelling
  • Uncategorized
  • Yukky Medical Stories

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
© 2025 Daft Musings | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme