I Got My Passport! Grinds My Gears.
As I went to renew my passport this morning, I realized a few things. The first thing is that the price of passport pictures is huge scam. It's probably been in existence as long as bottled water at airports. The cost of one 2 inch by 2 inch photo costs $15 at the post office. At CVS or Walgreens, about $10. How much does it cost to print a 4 inch by 6 inch photograph? About $0.49. So the mark up is over 180 times at the post office... Just an absolutely ridiculous "convenience charge" but I guess tons of people pay it, similarly to text messages. FYI you CAN print passport picture yourself at home.
Another thing I noticed to today at the post office and many times at the DMV, people never bring the proper and necessary document. This is extremely annoying for those who patiently wait around with the mandatory documents organized in hand, like me. The worst part about it, the required documentation is easily visible in a list on the applications! And with the over hour wait, there is no excuse to not have the documentation ready by the time your name is called to be processed (And if you don't have them, you're probably not going to get processed so you're wasting your and everyone else's time). I waited over a hour in line with four people ahead of me just to be processed in less than 3 minutes. Only if people just came prepared like me... Why can't everyone be like me?...
The employees at the post office and DMV must have patience down to a science. The woman was so friendly the entire time even though people didn't have proper documentation and some didn't even fill out their application until they were called up (What did you do during the extensive wait?). I'm sure 90% of the applicants never have the correct documents so 90% of the time they have to explain to them what they are missing. Then, 30% of these people are determined to talk their way out of having the right documents but will never be successful. But customers, like me, give a ray of sunshine in their work day.