I Hate the Government! Ever been so pissed tha…

I Hate the Government!

Ever been so pissed that you can almost cry tears of rage? Well that was me this morning. I took the day off so I can go to INS to get a new green card. I was sent a letter telling me that my application (to remove the conditional part of my green card) was approved and to go to my local office to get a stamp on my passport and a new card. The letter said to bring my old card, my passport, and pics –nothing more, nothing less. So I researched a bit just in case I would need other supporting documentation. I got all my papers ready.

I got to the Newark office today at 7:45 a.m. Went to the floor specified in the letter: Floor 14. Was told by an indifferent worker that “Oh, they moved that office to the third floor.” So I go to the 3rd floor. When I got there, there was a trio of workers. They asked “what are you here for?” So I showed them the letter. One stated immediately “oh they don’t do that today without an appointment.” Further converstation:

Me: Well the letter doesn’t indicate anything about making an appointment. They just said to come.

Them: Walk-ins are only on Wednesdays. Otherwise, you have to make an appointment.

Me: Well they should’ve put that on the letter. I took the day off from work.

Them: Yeah, we’ve had issues with those letters they sent out.

Me: Well what about people who have cancelled their appointment for today? Is there a stand-by list or something?

Them: What? No. If they miss it, they miss it.

Me: I know. So for that open time slot, is there a way to sign up for that?

Them: You have to make an appointment on-line. You know, on the internet.

Me: So that’s it? I can’t do anything?

Them: No.

As a last resort, I thought I could make an appointment on-line and maybe they would give me that same day. So I walked over to Kinko’s to use their computer. It’s 30 cents a minute but I figured I could still save the day if I got an appointment. So I log-on, make an appointment and found out they specify the date for you. You have no choice but to take the date offered (or you would just keep making appointment after appointment to get a day you want). So I had no choice but to take Oct. 5th as my day to come back; it was the earliest day offered. So much for trying to score a date for today. Incidentally, I paid $2.52 for the computer time I used, which includes a print-out of the appointment date.

So that was my trip to the INS. An absolute waste of time. I totally wasted a personal day to come. I swear, there was nothing about making an appointment on the website or anything. Plus, there is no info desk in the building or anything. And of course, the workers were sooo darn helpful. What a fucking waste of time. I thought about going to work, but I was in jeans and would have to go drive back home (30 mins), then drive back to work (45 mins). Plus, I was just too pissed to deal with anything. So I walked around Newark, got a coffee, got something to eat, stewed in my own anger for a bit, then read a paper. Then I felt better.

But I still hate INS. Or USCIS or freaking Homeland Security or whatever the fuck they want to call themselves. SHITE.