Dear GWB: FU

[thebitterguy]

So, yes, adventures in Bureaucracy. I can't believe I forgot to mention this. Cynra and I, in our adventures in Chinese Bueracracy have realized that we need passports. Well, she needas a new passport. I need to replace the one I lost after I got back from GenCon. Whoops. So, the quickest way, we thought, would be to go to the Passport office in Brampton and submit her documents. Oh, man, what a larf.
You see, in their continuing attempts to find a new largest trading partner/protect themselves from terrorists, the US government has decided that Canadian citizens will now require a passport to go to the US. Yay! Thanks, guys! I guess now that we have passports, we can go to other countries, too.

Anyway, we decided to go to the Brampton passport office. It's open weekdays from "after I get to work" to "before I'm done work", which means that the only thing better than Banker's Hours are Civil Servants Hours. It's thankfully also open weekends from nine am to noon. You'd think, then, that two and a half hours would be enough time to get in and submit the paperwork.

God, you're naive.

First off, Saturday was cold. We're talking witche's tit cold (no offense to any actual witches). So naturally by the time we get there, the lineup is out the door and around the corner. Thankfully, the door isn't very far from the corner, but it is the principle of the thing. Cynra was displeased, and considered leaving. That wasn't gonna happen. You don't get [Unknown site tag] out of bed before noon on a Saturday and decide to head back because of a line.

We hopped in line, between an enthusiastic young woman who'd driven in from Midland and kept talking about how "the beach will make this all worth it, eh? EH?" and I didn't have the heart to tell her I wouldn't get getting anywhere near a beach anytime soon and a guy with an African accent of some kind. Things went rather well, although Cynra had to go sit in the car to warm up a couple times. She's very delicate.

Eventually, Gill, the Commissionaire at the door, let us in. That was nice. Let me tell you, there's nothing quite like the pins and needles sensation of a defrosting epidermis. The building was packed to the gills; even inside, there was a line to get a number, and then you had to wait for the number. Signs were posted around the room, reminding you of how busy it was and that even if you got a number, you might not get seen. That was awesome. I can just imagine the last guy in line who didn't get served. Good thing Gill didn't have a gun, or he'd have had to use it.

Anyway, afterwards we went across the plaza for lunch at a nice Indian restaurant. We grabbed the lunch buffet, so I had tandoori chicken and butter chicken and rice and some salad (onion salad has these delightful peppers, if by delightful you mean kinda hot). I think the curry may have explained why my stomach acted up while I was driving out to Waterloo yesterday.

Comments

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

driving out to Waterloo yesterday

What? You came out to our neck of the woods!? That's funny, I didn't hear our local air raid sirens going off when you approached the dew line...

What were you doing in our fair city, my friend?

[thebitterguy]

A friend of mine's a lawyer and I needed to get some docs signed by her. I got to see her Notary stamp!

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

Ah yes! That makes sense. Still, dood, ya shoulda emailed! You could have joined in on our game day or something!

[thebitterguy]

It was sort of a spur of the moment thing. I'll let you know the next time I am in town, though.

[rabidchyld.livejournal.com]

we are currently trying to get our passports, as well. Mine to be renewed and hubby's for the first time. We're lucky that we can go to the local courthouse, but the hours are basically the same as your dilemma. The hardest thing for us right now is trying to get a copy of hubby's birth certificate, and trying to find out if I have to submit everything again since I had a passort before.

feh....this sucks.

[thebitterguy]

It's inconvenient, too. That, plus human nature leading everyone to wait until the last minute to actually DO it is just making it a grand old time for everyone.

[sixteenbynine.livejournal.com]

I've just finished getting a replacement naturalization certificate from my own dear INS. It was actually less hassle than I feared it would be, but it required some emergency research on my part.

My local post office is having a passport fair (yes, a "passport fair") this coming Saturday, so I might as well hie my butt thence and replace the one I lost ages ago.

[thebitterguy]

Passport fair. That's awesome. Will there be face painting and a ferris wheel?

[(Anonymous)]

If it's any consolation, US citizens have to have a passport to enter the US from Canada, too, as of tomorrow. Or from Mexico, for that matter. Our local post offices do passports, though, so we luck out there at least.

[thebitterguy]

Yeah, you don't need to go to a passport office; you can just mail off a completed application. It just takes longer that way.

[anidada.livejournal.com]

That's pretty typical, IME (going to the downtown Toronto office is the same; the lineup starts at 6am, which is a couple of hours before the actual office opens). Though one of my friends got her application dealt with really quickly, a few weeks ago... I was very surprised by that. At least you were seen! *hugs*

Item on City about the passport office situation...

[anidada.livejournal.com]

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_7118.aspx

Re: Item on City about the passport office situation...

[thebitterguy]

Jesus, people are dumb. The Americans need a passport is suddenly a government cash grab, and needing a Guarantor is not that big a hassle. It's dumb bureacracy, yeah, but those guys are just extra stupid.