Monday, May 22, 2006

Massachusetts.

Well, I just tried to interact with the government. You know what that means. A rant. Feel free to skip me.

Okay, the ID which serves me perfectly well in every US situation I've ever heard of doesn't serve to get another ID with identical features from another state. It can identify me to the cop I just ran over, or to the airplane crew I'm about to blow up, or to the insurance guys I'm about to defraud. But not to itself.

I guess I can see that. Maybe they're not familiar enough with the licenses of other states to be sure it's not a fake.

That's why I brought my Social Security Card.

Not enough? Hurm. Proof of address. Because I might, you know, lie about my own fucking addy. Well, I guess I can get that from my bank and come back tomorrow.

What do you mean not enough? Proof of signature? Because my drivers license doesn't count? Oh, it counts as my photo ID, not my signature ID. Because you're fucking full of shit.

How about these medical cards? How about obsolete drivers licenses?

"Doesn't count if it's more than a year old"? What the fuck are you smoking?

How about my fucking Price Chopper card? My library card? No? Why not? They're more fucking organized than you are.

So... what? I need to go get a fucking gun license just so I can say, "this is my fucking sig"? I need to get a passport so I can continue to do what I always do - that is to say, not fucking drive anyway?

Oh, my insurance card? For the car I don't, you know, own?

Ahhhh. I see. So I bring my fucking lease in to show you proof of signature.

I guess that's what I'll do. So tomorrow, I get to pay you motherfuckers for the honor of allowing me to pay your fucking insane taxes and continue to be me.

You know, companies that run like this are quickly being annihilated by companies with less idiotic restrictions in all industries that aren't... waaaait... all industries that aren't controlled by the fucking government.

Gee!

I don't believe in conspiracies. I believe in a deep, abiding incompetance.

4 comments:

Darius Kazemi said...

http://www.mass.gov/rmv/license/3id.htm

See "out of state license conversion with no previous MA state license". Should answer your questions, when combined with the Primary & Secondary ID document linked at the top of the page.

I had to do this too.

Craig Perko said...

I already knew all this, Darius. The same thing was posted in the RMV.

It doesn't explain WHY, it doesn't reduce the idiocy, and it doesn't reduce the rather high fee I'll pay for the pleasure of jumping through their fucking hoops.

Hence the rant.

Darius Kazemi said...

Okay, but... it seemed like you were complaining that you had to make multiple trips to the RMV. I would have imagined that one read of their policies would have reduced it to a single trip.

:P

Craig Perko said...

Yeah, if I'd been bright, I would have looked it up ahead of time.

I never claimed to be bright, just brilliant. ;)