Have a safe trip OK.
People tell me I'm an overt person, and I love to disagree for the sake of modesty ( . . . annnnnd disbelief), but what happened today was pretty interesting. I was turning in my passport application, and my mom kept telling me that I didn't need to bring my birth certificate. I took it anyway, because I believe taking more reduces the embarrassment of standing in line for an adequate amount of time only to be rejected because you're missing a form. For the sake of massaging my ego, I was right anyway. First Post Office near my house was not a passport processing facility. Next Post Office in Atlanta stays open til 5PM but stops processing passport applications at 3PM (and no where do they state this). Third was the main post office facility in Atlanta that I went to under a series of un/fortunate events. Stopped at World Market to look around and want things.
After dropping my mom off, I took the directions she gave me. Ended up going to the Post Office and it wasn't open! A lady conveniently walked in to put something in a drop box and I said:
"Isn't this place supposed to be open?" "Nah, I don't think so." "What!" "Yeah, but the main one is down the street." "This isn't the main one? What the hell. Thank you." I call my mom at work: "This isn't the right ONE!" "I told you to take a left." "Ok. Bye." I get there. Line is pretty lengthy, office is full of Spanish speaking people and I'm just hoping I don't get a "No he was wrong, we stop processing at 3 also." Anyway, the line was funky so I just stood behind someone. Some kid was speaking Spanish to his father and I translated it with what I remember of it and said "This isn't the line?! WHERE IS THE LINE!?" and people who weren't even finished writing their stuff/packaging their things gestured to them, so I got behind them. The father (who was amazingly attractive) got behind me and smiled, said my name in Spanish, etc and I told him he could get in front of me since I was behind him. He kept refusing. So. I stayed there. I was there for about 30 minutes.
Bored and watching someone pack, I just said "You don't gotta go through all that for me ya' know? I'm here, no shipping is necessary." They 'lol'd' and proclaimed that I probably wouldn't want it. I said, as long as it's free I don't care. Anyways, we chitchatted oddly. Then I got up to the desk.
"I'd like to turn in my passport application."
"Okay."
"I brought my birth certificate in case I needed to."
"You do."
"Okay."
"*shifts it all to her*"
Did the oath thing, and then she said "It'll be 116."
"Shouldn't it be 100?"
"No."
"Okay. . . ."
She comes back after scanning stuff or whatever and attaches my birth certificate to it.
"I don't get to keep it?"
"They'll mail it back to you."
". . . . okay."
"So why is it an additional 16 dollars? The website says it's 100."
"Because we have to take your 2x2s."
"I have 2x2s here and here's my old passport with an adorable baby photo."
"Oh, then it'll be 100. I was wondering why you kept asking."
"Well that extra 16 dollars means I wouldn't have been able to eat dinner."
Tons of lols ensue and I said I hated my passport picture, and she said "Well. . . you aren't smiling."
"That's because I looked away because someone tripped and she snapped it when I looked back!!"
"LOLOLOLOLOLOL" and people are eyeing us I guess waiting for the stuff to go through.
"well go ahead and swipe your card. Debit?"
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
"YEAH I GOT MONIES, GURL."
Then I left after paying.
End of story.
Edit* After re-reading this, it sounds utterly ordinary.
