Despite their opposite futures - imminent travel and possible sequestering - people waiting for passports look a lot like people waiting for jury duty. Few of them, for instance, appear to be professionals, adding to the theory that there exists a class of people who have other people to 1) get things done for them and 2) get them out of doing things.
I had these thoughts yesterday while sitting in the Passport Office in Miami. The office had moved since the last time I visited (2002) to the third floor of the Omni on Biscayne Boulevard. The new premises lent an air of efficiency that was not belied by the service. I presented myself at the appointment window and, like at a popular bakery, was given a number: A053. AO21 was just being called. After about 20 minutes I was called to a window, where I handed the young man sitting behind it my passport, a filled out form requesting additional pages and a letter containing the dates of my travel. He checked in red ink various parts of the form, requested $60, and then asked if I would like to receive the passport by mail or to pick it up myself. I said I would pick it up myself. The last time I added pages my passport was sent to a man in South Carolina. Probably a professional.
