The mess that is known as the Social Security Office

So, this past week I realized that I lost my social security card. I also remembered that I never ordered Miss K's birth certificate and my driver's licenses will expire on my birthday. I immediately got a sick feeling in my stomach. I have so much stuff going on this week (why am I wasting time on my computer?!?) and then we are out of here. I have to get my Dl renewed and if K is flying with me this weekend...I gotta have the birth certificate!

So, my big plan for today was to go and get Miss K's birth certificate. Well, that didn't happen, but right before lunch I got a wild hair and decided to go to the SS office. I went on line, printed out the form, filled it out and loaded up Miss K up in the truck and we headed out. I stopped off at McD's to pick up some lunch for her. How long could this really take? I remember getting going years ago and getting my new one after I got married. I think I was in and out of there in less than 30 minutes.

I arrived at the office at 12:36pm. I was number 87. They were on number 44. WHAT? So, I entertain Miss K with her lunch and then we moved to some different chairs where there was a bit more room. Well, when it got to be like 1:50, she was mad. She was ready to leave and she made a break for the door. I grabbed her just as she was sneaking out with some people who were leaving. The Rent-A-Cop yelled at me to keep her with me. No please or anything. Just yelled at me. Then told me that she was going to get her fingers smashed in the door and that was going to cause all kinds of problems. Thanks dumbass. Don't tell me how to parent my child. I was half a step behind her, I knew where she was going and the reason she made it to the door is because she is quite a bit shorter than I am and can go under things that I can't. Jerk.

But...let's talk about this "system" they have going. You get a number and you wait. But there is a sign that tells you that they don't call the numbers in order. What's up with that? Why even give out numbers? Why not just call people based on what color shirt they are wearing? Whatever. So, in the beginning, they were pretty much calling the numbers in order...until they got closer to number 87. I'll get to that story in a minute. There are 5 windows and at any given time, there were 3 windows open, but they kept closing windows and opening different ones. It was almost like they could only help "x" amount of people and then had to close their windows. The crazy thing was....after they helped one person, it would take them anywhere from 5-15 minutes to call another person. Sometimes it was instant, other times it was forever. At one point all 5 windows were open, but they weren't helping anyone.

So...I am sitting right next to this window and can't help but overhear this lady trying to find out why her child has the wrong SS#. She tells the lady that she filed her taxes on line and she got rejected because the SS# was wrong. The lady asked her for the SS#. Woman tells her that she never received one, but the hospital gave her the SS# before she left the hospital. Now...I will admit that I was being nosey, but I couldn't help but finish listening to how this was going to turn out. The lady tells her that they don't give you a SS# for babies when you leave the hospital. The woman keeps insisting that they did. The lady asks her for the document that she got the number off of. She says that she doesn't have it. After a LOT of going back and forth between these two, the lady tells her that she must have use the hosptial ID because the hospital is not going to issue the SS# to them before they leave the hosptial. Turns out the child did have a SS#, but it wasn't the one that they had been using. It gets better...she then asks if they can change the child's SS# to what she has been using because they already have other documents with this SS# on it. Even insist that the child has a passport with this SS# on it. (Can you get a passport without your actual SS card?) That SS# actually belongs to someone. Uh oh. Is that going to cause a problem? LOL.

So anyway...they get to number 84 and come on the speaker and announce that they are going to start calling numbers out of order so do not get upset if your number is not called in order. 85...86...88...89...79...90...91...94... Get the picture? ARG! Finally NUMBER 87! Took me 2 minutes at the window and we were done. I walked out of there at 2:45. Miss K passed out before I even got into the driver seat.

Oh...no changing table in the bathroom at the SS office either. Wonder how bad the Vital Stats office is going to be tomorrow? I am seriously thinking of faxing my order in and paying the extra $10 to "rush" it.