Why does it all have to be so hard?

I stopped by the post office yesterday to have a new picture taken for my passport renewal. My current passport is due up this fall so the timing of SRS comes at a very opportune time for me in the renewal process.

OK, I will admit that I thought I had to turn in all of my paperwork to the passport people at the post office, but I just have to mail off the passport form, the legal name change decree, and my letter from Dr. Meltzer. I still needed a picture though, so that was the one service I could use there.

When the guy behind the counter saw the picture in my passport, he looked very confused. “Is this your husband?”

“No, that’s me. I had a little work done.”

Blank stare. I could actually see and hear all the brain synapses screaming “does not compute” before they subsequently exploded.

Something clicked for him after a few seconds when he saw the rest of my paperwork. I told him I still needed a picture, and he was happy to oblige.

Afterward, I mailed off the paperwork for my birth certificate change. Because my postal service kinda sucks, I would have preferred to have Fedexed such sensitive documents, but Louisiana has a PO box for their address...something Fedex can’t deliver to. I purchased the registered mail and return receipt options, though, so they hopefully won’t lose it. For the birth certificate change, I mailed off the birth certificate revision form, the name change decree, the letter from Dr. Meltzer, and two utility bills that had my legal name on them. The bills were part of their identification documentation needed. Most of the other forms I wouldn’t have been able to mail...such as my driver’s license, social security card, etc. I also sent in an extra fee for them to pull up my current birth certificate. Louisiana’s Vital Records wants you to either send it in or pay to have them pull it up. I have a copy of it, but not an official one...just the small card...which they said wasn’t valid for this revision purpose.

Hopefully this will work. When I went over their paper work, it said something about having the District Attorney in the parish in which I was born approving the change, but it doesn’t really say how to do any of it. If it comes down to some type of court order, then I’m screwed and will have to hire a lawyer to figure all of it out. The email I got back from their office said to just send in the paperwork, so hopefully that’s all it will take. I should find out in a few weeks.