i <3 the u.s. government

so we're in the middle of applying for our passports to go to angela and nkem's wedding in the dominican republic. we sent our applications (richie's for a brand new passport, mine is just a renewal and a name change) in several weeks ago, and yesterday i called richie on my way home and he mentioned that he had gotten something about his passport in the mail! i foolishly thought that maybe his passport had come earlier than expected...but that would be giving the passport agency way too much credit.

well...it turns out that the assholes over at the state department didn't believe that richie was who he claimed to be (even though he had already sent in a certified copy of his birth certificate!!!), so they needed additional information to confirm his identity. they made him fill out forms with the names, addresses, phone numbers, and birth dates of his entire immediate family; his entire education history (on the top line, I wrote UC Hastings College of the LAW); everywhere he's lived for the last 10 years; everywhere he's worked for the last 10 years; and 2 references that have known him for at least 5 years.

he also had to provide 3 documents, at least 5 years old, out of a list of 15 or so to prove his identity - among some of the ridiculous items on the list were student id and employee id. first of all, most people aren't students for over 5 years, so how many people really keep their student id for that long (unless they're like us and use them to keep getting a discount at the movie theater)? the employee id thing is ridiculous too because if you're currently working there, you need your id every day, and if you're not working there, you probably had to turn it in when you quit! it's so ridiculous.

anyway, so we decided to hit the fuckers with a bunch of different items on the list - we sent his stanford id, his stanford transcript, car and renters' insurance records, marriage certificate, selective service card, and health insurance card. I drew the line at our bank records because i don't trust those incompetent, racist, lying bastards with my bank account information.

once we have our passports safe in hand, i'm going to write a letter to our representative to complain about this BLATANT discrimination and harassment!!!