It had to be done

This morning I took part in that sacred Canadian rite of passage: waiting in line at the Passport Office. I heard all the horror stories prior to the January deadline. As recently as a few weeks ago I heard of 2-hour wait times. I went prepared: I had my book and my music. I arrived about 20 minutes before it opened, and the line-up appeared long. I went to the end of the line and waited. At 8am the doors opened and people were ushered in to “pre-screening.” At this point they see what kind of application you have (handwritten, on-line) and how many applications, and when you’re traveling. I had done my application on-line and was given the number C007. It seemed like the majority of people there had the older, handwritten applications and would have a longer wait. My number was called quickly and I was out of there by 8:20. Frankly, I’m a little disappointed. I wanted some Passport line-up horror story of my very own that I could tell at parties for years to come. I wanted three hours in line followed by someone telling me my application was incomplete and sending me away. Then I could bitch about the Government and have some great complaining fodder.