PASSPORT WOES

I have been one of those victims of the passport agency's demand woes. I sent applications in for me and my kids in April, only to find that while they were efficient enough to cash my checks back in the beginning of May, that is where the efficiency ended and chaos began. I have been calling the agency for a few weeks already only to find out that while they know where my application is and were able to (finally after several calls and three weeks) expedite it's process, my kids' passport applications are in New Hampshire but not "batched" yet so they cannot be expedited. What this means, to my mind, is that they're in a big unsorted pile somewhere - for a couple of months.

Now, understand something: I am not the shopper who screams with a sense of entitlement, nor the diner who demands better food or service, nor the driver who pushes herself ahead of the pack. With rare, bad day, once a year exceptions, I am courteous, patient, and more understanding than anyone I know when I employ some one's service or interact for a simple purchase. This, my fellow Americans, is nothing short of RIDICULOUS. The person responsible for this should be tortured as I am when I call to make an appointment at a regional passport center with the automated system that cuts you off, falls silent, and is antiquated at best. I have been trying for a week to get through to said automated system, and if it weren't for my daughter's tenacity, I'd be up the proverbial estuary without a paddle.

At first I thought, OK, I just need to be a little more patient, but now I see this problem is way out of control. We should be required to carry a passport to Mexico, Canada, etc, and this requirement is way overdue. But who is the idiot who didn't anticipate the surge in applications? Do we not know how many people cross the border into said lands every summer? Can we not calculate how many of said citizens use the minimum vital documents or passports, and therefore how many more may be required? TOTAL TRAVELLERS MINUS THOSE WHO USE PASSPORTS EQUALS THOSE WHO STILL DON'T HAVE THEIRS. And while I'm at it, who is the moron who designed the menu for the telephone system? (If you make a mistake, there is no going back).

By the way, if we don't have the above information to fill in the formula, then our borders are way too porous, and that's frightening. It would be a good idea for people to carry identity cards for that matter. There are people trying to kill us, you know. I for one am willing to sacrifice a little privacy for safety, but I digress.

I know I'm not alone, based on the telephone system not accepting my call due to high call volume. Where are you, fellow victims, and what do you think?