Do You Need A Passport?

OutdoorWriter · Sep 12, 2009

Dear sirs,

I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this. How is it that Radio Shack has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a cable t.v. from them back in 1987, and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date.

For gosh sakes, do you guys do this by hand? My birth date you have on my social security card, and it is on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years. It is on my health insurance card, my driver's license, on the last eight damn passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the plane over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms that are done at election times.

Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Maryanne, my father's name is Robert and I'd be absolutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I die!!!!!! I apologize, I'm really pissed off this morning. Between you an' me, I've had enough of this BS! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my f----in' address. What is going on? You have a gang of Neanderthal a__holes workin' there!

Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for s__t sakes. I just want to go and park my ass on a sandy beach.

And would someone please tell me, why would you give a s__t whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days?

If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, I'd sure as hell not want to tell anyone! Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the city and get another f----in' copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of $60. Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day?? Nooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe makes sense. You'd rather have us running all over the f---in' place like chickens with our heads cut off, then find some a__hole to confirm that it's really me on the damn picture - you know,the one where we're not allowed to smile?! (bureaucratic f---in' morons) Hey, you know why we can't smile? We're totally pissed off!

Signed,

An Irate Citizen.

P.S.. Remember what I said above about the picture and getting someone to confirm that it's me? Well, my family has been in this country since 1776 .........I have served in the military for something over 30 years and have had security clearances up the yingyang.........However, I have to get someone 'important' to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN INDIA !

Sincerely,

You Sure In The Hell Should Know Who.

.....And we want them to run our health care?!? NOT!!

TONY MANDILE

How To Hunt Coues Deer

Anaconda · Sep 12, 2009

And this would be the same Federal Government that wants to take over health care ?
Lord have mercy on our souls !

apollosmith · Sep 12, 2009

With a track record like that, imagine the government running the entire health care system.

LESGO54 · Sep 12, 2009

great post, sad but true

Blank · Sep 12, 2009

I maintain a fairly high level security clearance, and have to renew it every year. I have done this since 1976. They rejected my renewal this year because they told me "According to our records, you started work in September, not July". When I explained that I had filled this out annually since I started (in July - - - -), and that her records were wrong, she got in a huff! I re-submitted it the exact same way again, and a couple hours later she called and apologized. Blamed the error on a computer problem, and said she had fixed it in the system. We'll see next year.

Gator · Sep 13, 2009

I just sent in last week and now I'm going to worry I got her to check my stuff. LOL

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".

gb22 · Sep 13, 2009

Thank you.

From time to time, I wonder if I'm the only one so fed up with the institutional stupidity that surrounds us every day.....and that controls most of our lives.

You didn't change it but I'm glad to know more of you are out there!! THANK YOU!!!

Within the shadows, go quietly.

OutdoorWriter · Sep 13, 2009

When I went to Africa in 2003, it was the first time I needed a passport. So I did all of the perfunctory processes, including submitting the same ORIGINAL birth certificate I had used for 60 years. During that time I had used it to re-enter the U.S. from Canada and Mexico at least three dozen times.

So back comes the letter. They told me I had to submit a newer BC because the one I had sent didn't have a RAISED seal, only a printed one. That meant contacting the state of NJ and paying about $50 for a copy with a raised seal, which took two weeks to arrive.

And then...because I had just renewed my driver's license a month earlier, I had to also send in other proof of residency such as older utility or insurance bills, etc. This despite having a DL in the US since 1959 and in AZ since 1962. Like the guy in the letter, I've had a valid SS # since I was 16 and filed taxes for nearly 45 years.

TONY MANDILE

How To Hunt Coues Deer

Ropinfool · Sep 14, 2009

if you owed child support they'd know your address.

whtelk · Sep 14, 2009

People say that we are not too far from another Revolution. I am thinking that just might be true. Sick of some dude or gal that has lived in the U.S.A less time than me (I was born here) questioning if I am who I say I am. GET FU##EN REAL!!! LOOK IN THE MIRROR!!!!

NVPete · Sep 14, 2009

Tony: Here's a related story. Several yrs. ago, when the troops were about to invade Iraq, and with heighthened security, I had to fly from Salt Lake to Italy via Toronto, Canada. I'd noticed there was a missprint of F for sex omn my passport. It was going to cost additional fees including Fed Ex fees to have a new one sent...I decided no big deal,just a missprint, BUT they sure made me sweat at each security checkpoint...and because of the "invalid" passport, at each airport checkpoint I had to unpack and have bags thoroughly searched, even though I tried to explain my circumstance! I'll never forget the frustration!