Oaths and Inconveniences

This afternoon I went to the downtown Fort Worth Post Office to submit my passport application. I’ve had it filled out for a week, but this was the first good chance I had to take it in. There were several things that struck me as ironic with the way the Post Office and the overall system works.

First, in order to pay for the fees for the passport I pulled out my credit card. They told me that they don’t take credit cards, only checks and ATM cards. What?!? It was a good thing that I had my debit card with me too. Who does that though?!? It’s SO much easier to fake or make a fraudulent check (which I might add has a chance of bouncing) than it is to get a credit card machine to read a bogus card. Not only that, but they already have to see at least two forms of identification, so they should know if the credit card is mine or not. I’m still trying to figure out other reasons why they wouldn’t take credit card. Anyone have any?!? E-mail me — a curious mind wants to know.

The second thing that was ironic was the oath they make you take when you submit your application. They make you raise your right hand and swear that the information you submitted on the form is correct. I wonder if they have anyone say no. That’s probably in step 8 of the process, so would people knowingly go through the first seven steps giving false information only to correct it at that last one? Either way, besides the inconveniences, it was a good thing to do and the postal ladies were nice! It was fun reflecting on it while driving back to campus.

For my senior seminar the book we have to read this and next week is Ronald Grimes’ Deeply Into the Bone: Re-inventing Rites of Passage. Is the passport application process a rite of passage or a ritual? Maybe. Maybe not. I’ll have to read more of the book and see!