Those
of you who know me well are aware that I do occasionally lose things. I have
been working on this since coming to Georgia with a modicum of success. That was all blown apart this morning when
the identification items required to complete the process of becoming a sub in
Gwinnett county disappeared totally. The
items needed would be my Passport, birth certificate and Social Security
Card. My Driver’s License was in my
purse.
It’s a
good thing I got up early because at least an hour was consumed in a futile
search. I waited until this morning
because I have a specific file in which those items have a special place. So, even before I made my bed, I decided to
get them out and put them on top of the 1 inch stack of completed paper
work. (I cannot tell you how many times
I had to write my address, my phone number, my social security number, my height and weight -that was only once-, and date everything.)
Pulling
the drawer open, finding the right green
folder and opening it took mere seconds.
But the pocket in the back of the folder was empty. No!!!
Wait, maybe it was another green folder, but no passport in any of them. Maybe I was in a hurry and put it in another
folder. Panicked searching. It was a good thing I took my blood pressure
medication this morning, because it was climbing.
Then
there’s that moment when you pray, Lord, calm me down and help me think, but ,
the mind continues to contemplate the consequences of not finding them
documents. What if they are lost
completely? What if my identity has been
stolen because I left them somewhere.
Now I can’t complete the sub process.
Should I even go? Oh, but wait, I
had to show them to get my Georgia Driver’s license so maybe that would be
enough. No way, bureaucracy doesn’t work
like that .
The
clock ticked on while I looked through all my files in two cabinets, rummaged
through everything on the top of the desk, searched through every bag and even
checked the kitchen counter. I had them
when I got my Driver’s License so I knew they had been here. But, I needed to get in the shower, because the
search wasn’t getting me anywhere. Figuring at least the interview could get
done only completing paperwork would be
left seemed to be the right option.
While in the shower, I remembered that I had opened up my Credit Union
account and thought maybe they were in the folder from Delta Community Credit
Union. Excitedly, I found that folder and looked inside. No passport, birth certificate or social
security card. I had been certain. I
could remember taking them to Delta and having copies made.
Finally,
the brain clicked into gear – I had used those documents last week, taking them to have an I-9 employment eligibility form
notarized for the online job. Mental pictures
reminded me that I took everything in a plastic envelope that had to be near
the top of something. Walking into the
dining area I saw it sitting on one of the chairs. With heart pounding, I opened the envelope and
there they were. Now that spells R-E-L-I-E-F
better than Rolaids. I copied
each one twice as required and also copied my Driver’s license as required,
gathered everything and headed out for the interview and document review.
Everything
was in order and all was well, until I had to put my Driver’s License number on
a fingerprinting/background check form.
I opened my wallet and no Driver’s License. But remember I had colored copies of it, so
that could be done.
I am
now duly fingerprinted and awaiting the letter that says I can sub in the
county, providing of course the background check comes back OK.
I drove
home very carefully and found my Driver’s License on my multippurpose
printer. The passport, birth certificate
and social security card are already back in the right place. I’ll tell you, I may never travel out of the
country, but that passport has proved extremely valuable here in Georgia.
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