Cursed Washington State

I have a bone to pick with Washington state. Yesterday I went to the DMV to get an identification card. I checked their website to make sure I had all the required documents. So, to make a long story short, after waiting for two hours, they tell me that my California drivers license has been expired for five years and two months, and therefore is not an acceptable document. The time limit is five years.


The funny thing is, they only told me this after the first lady had processed my application, scanned all my documents, and sent me to the next lady. Who apparently is incompetent and couldn’t figure out how to put the information into the computer properly. So, to make things easy for her she just decides to tell my she can’t process my application without a different document. I hate stupid people.

I mean really, what more do they need to establish an identity? I had an expired passport, an expired California drivers license, my original birth certificate, and a yearbook with my photo and name. I also had a photocopy of my Social Security card, but this, of course, is unacceptable. So, they sent me to the Social Security office to get a replacement Social Security card. They told me, with all of the documentation I had, I would be able to get a replacement Social Security card.

So, we drove over the Social Security office, with 10 minutes to spare before they closed. Gave the lady my documentation and told her I need a replacement social security card. After which, she informs me that I need a valid state ID in order to get one.

I informed her that I was trying to obtain a state ID, this is why I needed a Social Security card. I even showed her the photocopy of my social security card. I told her the DMV sent me over, so that I could get a replacement Social Security card, so that I could obtain my ID card. All she did was print me out a letter stating why I couldn’t get a replacement Social Security card. That sure helped a lot.

So, unless mom can locate my Social Security card, I guess I’m out of luck.

What’s irritating to me is all of the foreigners who were speaking Chinese, and Spanish, just breezed through the line and all they had to show was their foreign passport. Or foreign driver’s license.

Just because I let my passport and driver’s license expire [pardon me for having a life altering experience, and trying to survive], why are they no longer useful as a means of identification? I still had to show the required documentation to obtain those. Just because a few years go by, they are no longer useful as a means of identification?

If I would have had the exact same documentation two months ago I would not have this problem. Why is my California drivers license suddenly unacceptable when it has been expired five years two months? But perfectly acceptable being expired five years?

I find that utterly ridiculous.

I also find it ridiculous that I cannot obtain a copy of my Social Security card with a birth certificate and expired passport or driver’s license.

But, foreigners can come to this country, easily obtain a state drivers license/ID and a Social Security number/card. And start drawing Social Security money that we, natural born citizens, have paid into our entire lives. Yet, I cannot draw Social Security benefits or obtain a state ID card.

That is really messed up.

By the way, to obtain a current passport, all I have to do is fill out an application online, mail in my old passport, two new passport photos, and $75. Wait six to eight weeks. And get a new current passport in the mail. Should it be easier to get a passport than a state ID card? I think not. Washington State stinks!

That’s my two cents.