Maybe a good laugh then, for now...
Okay, as a disclaimer, this doesn't
truly represent your specific case, but it happened to come into my inbox here at work and thought it to have partial relevance to various government agencies here in the US that deal with travel abroad: Enjoy, then we can all get back on topic.
Just goes to show it isn't necessarily easy
leaving this country either.
An actual letter to the passport office
Dear Sir:
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 t.v. cable from them back in 1997, and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date.
For Christ 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 g***amn passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the planes 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!!!!!!
S**T!
I apologize, I'm really pi$$ed off this morning.
Between you an' me, I've had enough of this bull***t! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my f***in' address. What is going on? You have a gang of Neanderthal a$$h***s workin' there! Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig upYasser Arafat, for s**t sakes. I just want to go and park my a$$ on a sandy beach.
And would someone please tell me, why would you give a s**t whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, I'd sure as hell not want to tell anyone! Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the city and get another f***in' copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of $60.
Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day?? Nooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe makes sense. You'd rather have us running all over the f***in' place like chickens with our heads cut off, then find some a$$h**e to confirm that it's really me on the go***mn picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile?! (f***in' morons)
Hey, you know why we can't smile? We're totally pi***d 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 COMMUNIST CHINA!
Sincerely,
You Sure In The Hell Should Know Who.