John Needs to Vent

The delay in getting Social Security Numbers for our girls is not as significant as the wait we had to endure before travelling back to Russia, but any delay can still be agravating.

On January Fourth I waited in line for an hour in order to apply for Social Security Numbers. I didn't want to do this by mail since it requires showing valuable papers like passports and citizenship records. While at the window, I saw the attendant enter into her system all of the requested information for Galina, but she did nothing for Valerie. Instead, she tells me that she will photocopy Valerie's documents and then enter her application two days later. "Why?" I ask. "Because we are not suppose to issue family members sequential Social Security Numbers."

Now, I happen to know that you can program a computer to assign sequential numbers or random numbers or any other type of algorithm. In this case it seems that they programmed their system to issue sequential numbers which is precisely what they don't want to have happen. So, they have somebody hold the paperwork on their desk "for a couple of days" as a work-around their explicit programming for sequential numbers.

I was told to expect Valerie's SSN card to arrive in the mail two days after Galina's card. So, are any of you surprised that after two weeks of getting Galina's card that Valerie's hasn't come? Today, after an hour of working my way through phone trees and being placed on hold, I am told that the application had not yet been entered. "So, it's been nowhere but sitting on someone's desk?" I ask. "It appears so," was the reply.