File under: Pleasant surprises
My younger daughter entered the workforce recently, and realized she needed to present both Social Security card and picture ID to get paid for her labor. Lacking both, i took a morning off from work earlier this week to help her get these documents.
Our first stop was at the DMV office on Miami Blvd., where we quickly learned that although Social Security card wasn't an absolute prerequisite for a state picture ID, it sure makes it easier to get one. The official birth certificate simply wasn't enough, and without an SS card, she would need multiple other documents attesting to her identity. So, off to the SS office, where we waited for about 45 minutes without getting any closer to the head of the line. Fortunately we were able to put that time to good use reading the fine print on the application for a duplicate card.
Those of you who have ever dealt with the bureaucracy could probably guess at what we read there.
You see, while a state issued picture ID isn't absolutely necessary to get a duplicate Social Security card, it sure makes it easier to get one.
So we were pretty discouraged when we left the office without even getting a chance to talk things over with anyone about the best way to proceed.
I took her to her other appointments that morning (there are some people who think i have poor time management skills, but they're wrong), and got on the phone with SS trying to make an appointment to come in and figure out how to proceed. I spent a goodly amount of time on hold, but eventually someone came on the line and, after discussing my dilemma, told me what papers i needed to bring and agreed to set me up with an appointment for earlier this afternoon. I'm not sure why she did that; i've been told that appointments are generally booked up to 3 or 4 weeks in advance. But we showed up at the scheduled hour, were called to the window, and the paperwork that i had been asked to bring turned out to be completely satisfactory for establishing her identity and getting a new card issued. Even though, as it turned out, she'd been using an incorrect SS number through most of her school years. We were in and out of the office in less than 10 minutes.
I know from earlier experiences with government bureaucracies that this is highly unusual. I'm grateful to the woman who saw exactly what the problem was, knew exactly what the solution was, and helped me get to that point with a minimum of wasted time and frustration. Extremely grateful.
I just wonder if it had anything at all to do with Teh Awesome power of this blog?
Our first stop was at the DMV office on Miami Blvd., where we quickly learned that although Social Security card wasn't an absolute prerequisite for a state picture ID, it sure makes it easier to get one. The official birth certificate simply wasn't enough, and without an SS card, she would need multiple other documents attesting to her identity. So, off to the SS office, where we waited for about 45 minutes without getting any closer to the head of the line. Fortunately we were able to put that time to good use reading the fine print on the application for a duplicate card.
Those of you who have ever dealt with the bureaucracy could probably guess at what we read there.
You see, while a state issued picture ID isn't absolutely necessary to get a duplicate Social Security card, it sure makes it easier to get one.
So we were pretty discouraged when we left the office without even getting a chance to talk things over with anyone about the best way to proceed.
I took her to her other appointments that morning (there are some people who think i have poor time management skills, but they're wrong), and got on the phone with SS trying to make an appointment to come in and figure out how to proceed. I spent a goodly amount of time on hold, but eventually someone came on the line and, after discussing my dilemma, told me what papers i needed to bring and agreed to set me up with an appointment for earlier this afternoon. I'm not sure why she did that; i've been told that appointments are generally booked up to 3 or 4 weeks in advance. But we showed up at the scheduled hour, were called to the window, and the paperwork that i had been asked to bring turned out to be completely satisfactory for establishing her identity and getting a new card issued. Even though, as it turned out, she'd been using an incorrect SS number through most of her school years. We were in and out of the office in less than 10 minutes.
I know from earlier experiences with government bureaucracies that this is highly unusual. I'm grateful to the woman who saw exactly what the problem was, knew exactly what the solution was, and helped me get to that point with a minimum of wasted time and frustration. Extremely grateful.
I just wonder if it had anything at all to do with Teh Awesome power of this blog?
Labels: bureaucracy
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3 Comments:
Although the catch-22 you noted, and the long lines, are inane and frustrating, in my own trips to the DMV and SS office this month, I found the rank and file workers to be very cheerful and helpful. Perhaps it's because I have relatives who've labored in DMV offices for decades that I cut people a break who work in these thankless jobs. The employees don't make the long lines or absurd regulations, but they get charged with trying to explain the logic behind the absurdities to a public that's cranky after waiting in chairs for over an hour.
I also think people are often predisposed to assume that government departments are by their very nature incompetent and/or uncaring, and that businesses are superior. It's certainly an argument that's floated re: gov't run health care. These are people who have obviously never dealt with Verizon or Symantec or...well, the list could go on.
By
Anonymous, at 8:12 AM
what about another pleasant surprise--your other daughter's alma mater's completely shocking win over Michigan's top-rated football team? :)
By
Anonymous, at 10:46 PM
To be fair, they were only ranked #5. We were traveling this weekend in the Yadkinville area, staying away from the TV and the internet.
Visited a couple of wineries on Sunday, and it's pretty much all anybody wanted to talk about.
Gotta say, though, after my last visit to Boone, i probably won't be going back. But if they keep winning like that, they won't be missing my money.
By
Barry, at 11:03 PM
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