Passport!

Turns out...three time's the charm...

I'm glad that it wasn't...3 strikes and your out...


Willow can hold her own passport, so I guess she's ready to travel internationally! Next stop: Chinese consulate for visas and the secretary of state's office for birth certificate authentication (hopefully this will be able to be done in Chicago). I feel so happy and bubbly right now--what a relief! A tremendous burden just slid off my shoulders--I didn't even realize that it was there. I'm excited to be able to see Adam next week!

This whole process would have been a lot more difficult without the help and upward thoughts of many people. Thanks to the people in China who have been supportive and have helped Adam with his end of the work. Thanks to my Mom and Brad who took turns driving me to the city and being an extra pair of arms to take care of Willow while going through all the bureaucratic hoops.

Today, Brad and I witness lots more shenanigans as people tried to apply or pick-up passports. Here were our general observations about the employees at the passport agency after having spent 10+ hours watching their behavior:

1. Employees are extremely rude, argumentative, and unhelpful. If a mistake is made during the process it is always the fault of the applicant and not the agency employee. Whether it's losing people's paperwork, spelling names incorrectly, or missing a vital piece of information--it's always the applicant's fault.

2. If these passport agents were to act this way in any other job, these employees would definitely be fired for their poor customer service, impatience, abruptness, and accusatory attitudes. They accuse people of fraud, dishonesty, and criminal acts with no proof at all (e.g. "that's not your signature--you're lying"; "you aren't from California because you have a foreign accent--I will not accept your application because I think you sound like you're from another country"; etc.).

3. They think that they offering the country a service by being rude to its citizens.

4. They find it necessary to be crass and brutal to applicants to somehow prove that they are good agents/competent at their jobs.

5. The enterprise looks organized, but is in extreme disarray.

6. They will make a scene with applicants just to get the situation to the point where they can call the security guards to forcibly remove the applicants from the building.

_______________________

Grrr....I get frustrated just thinking about it!
After sitting and waiting for Willow's passport for several hours, I finally went to the window to ask if it was ready. I had previously been told to get out of line and sit down because they would call me if it was ready. Sure enough, it had been siting there since 1pm.

....Bureaucracies.

Oh well. The point is that God is good and provides faithfully. I don't know why the process was delayed, but there has to be a reason. It was super easy to apply this morning. The agent did not question Adam's consent (like the past two agents) and was helpful in letting us pick up the passport on the same day. I'm glad this step of the process is over and that we still have time to spare.

~julie