The title sounds like the title of a children's book, but I couldn't come up with anything catchier.
Yesterday I went to the Social Security office here and there was a surprisingly short line.
The check in at the office is done by a computer. You touch-screen your way through menus and then the machine spits out a ticket number for you to wait for. When I looked at the computer, the guard came over and assisted me through the menus. When the machine spit out a ticket, the guard handed it to me and I and headed to the seats. There were only about five other people in the office.
The guard remarked to me that I was lucky, there didn't appear to be that many people that day. I said that the weather outside was beautiful so I guessed most people were just enjoying the day. He asked me why I was there instead of shoe shopping somewhere! This guy really knew me! I would have loved to be shoe shopping right about then, but he didn't know why! I told him I needed to get my records taken care of. We chatted for a little bit more and I sat down. I noticed that when other people came in, the guard wasn't quite as helpful. Then I noticed that the other people who came is were all guys.
Then I got it. The guard was just being nice to the lady, that's all. Just about everyone else in the waiting room were male. I was the only female. When I got, it a big smile spread across my face.
There was no innuendo, no sexual overtone, nothing to get worried about, just a nice man being pleasant to the lady. What finer compliment to what I've been trying to achieve is there than that. I'll be the transsexual advocate and feminist some other time. Right then I was all woman, and flattered out of my mind by just a simple exchange of pleasantries.
A little while later I was called to a window and I told the person that I wanted to change my name. I had prepared the form prior to coming to the office. So I handed him the application and my name change order. He typed in the application stats and asked a couple of questions about the application information. Then he looked at me and asked if I wanted to change my gender as well. I said "Sure!". He asked for some documentation. I handed him my physician letter and surgery form. He read the letter very carefully and then glanced at the surgery form. Then made some changes to the form. Presumably changing my gender. My heart was racing! I didn't expect that! I had resigned myself to getting my name changed but still carrying my birth gender id until I completed GRS. Oh wow!
Then, he asked to see my birth certificate.
Oops. All my preparations and I forgot this crucial piece of documentation.
When I told him I didn't have it, he said that they couldn't verify my citizenship without it. He then asked if I could get it and when I could come back.
I told him I would get it and bring it back tomorrow (Friday). He said there was no telling what the next day would be like, and all that needed to be done was to verify the birth information, he wrote a note indicating I should go to his station directly the next day and stamped it with the office stamp.
I just about floated out of the office. I seem to be doing that a lot lately…
That evening I went back to the house and collected my birth records. I had the original and a certified copy from when I was getting a passport.
The next day I went back to the SSA office. I wanted to get there early so I would hopefully beat the line.
Unfortunately that nice guard wasn’t in and the new guard really wasn’t interested with my note to be shown to the head of the line. I had to sign in as I did the previous day. Ah well, no big deal. But I did have to wait about twenty minutes to be seen.
I saw a different person this time and we started the process from the beginning. About midway through the process the person I had seen the previous day wandered by and waved to me. He said to the lady processing my request that he could take over if she wanted. She said no, she had it under control. She processed the name change with no problem, but didn’t offer to change my gender. I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to ask so I did. She looked at me and said yes. And asked for my documentation. I handed over my papers and she looked at them and made some notations on the form.
She then printed out the update and asked me to review it. She had made one error in my address and I pointed it out to her. I also noted that the gender still said male. She made the corrections, printed out a new copy and had me review it. She underlined the changes she made including my new address and gender.
I said that everything looked correct now. And I started to grin and my heart started racing.
She printed out a receipt for me to sign and said my new card would arrive in about two weeks.
I thanked her for her assistance and that she had made me a very happy woman. She smiled back and said thanks and have a nice day. Oh wow, would I!
When I got to the lobby I had to sit down and catch my breath. Just like the court appearance I was light headed from having accomplished this. And Carl wasn’t around to hug me, dammit!
After a few minutes, my breathing returned to normal and I felt like I could get back to the office without passing out.
With my critical records now changed, I have achieved validity. For most of my life I have felt like a ghost, an ethereal being. Because (barry) was documented. Barry had the name and the records. *I* had no validity. I was not known in society. Consequently, I felt everything I did had no meaning. Now (barry) is the ghost, and I am * real *.
-Sandy (not ethereal anymore!)
BTW: The obscure reference to my old name as (barry) comes from a Mel Brooks movie "To Be or Not To Be". Which is, in my opinion, one of his better films. Anyway at the beginning of the movie Brooks’ character is being assailed by his film and real life wife, Anne Bancroft. She is complaining that he is taking too much credit on the theatre posters. His name is three times the size of hers; her name is in all lower case, and in parenthesis! That has stayed with me as a really funny bit. Anyway, now you know.
Yesterday I went to the Social Security office here and there was a surprisingly short line.
The check in at the office is done by a computer. You touch-screen your way through menus and then the machine spits out a ticket number for you to wait for. When I looked at the computer, the guard came over and assisted me through the menus. When the machine spit out a ticket, the guard handed it to me and I and headed to the seats. There were only about five other people in the office.
The guard remarked to me that I was lucky, there didn't appear to be that many people that day. I said that the weather outside was beautiful so I guessed most people were just enjoying the day. He asked me why I was there instead of shoe shopping somewhere! This guy really knew me! I would have loved to be shoe shopping right about then, but he didn't know why! I told him I needed to get my records taken care of. We chatted for a little bit more and I sat down. I noticed that when other people came in, the guard wasn't quite as helpful. Then I noticed that the other people who came is were all guys.
Then I got it. The guard was just being nice to the lady, that's all. Just about everyone else in the waiting room were male. I was the only female. When I got, it a big smile spread across my face.
There was no innuendo, no sexual overtone, nothing to get worried about, just a nice man being pleasant to the lady. What finer compliment to what I've been trying to achieve is there than that. I'll be the transsexual advocate and feminist some other time. Right then I was all woman, and flattered out of my mind by just a simple exchange of pleasantries.
A little while later I was called to a window and I told the person that I wanted to change my name. I had prepared the form prior to coming to the office. So I handed him the application and my name change order. He typed in the application stats and asked a couple of questions about the application information. Then he looked at me and asked if I wanted to change my gender as well. I said "Sure!". He asked for some documentation. I handed him my physician letter and surgery form. He read the letter very carefully and then glanced at the surgery form. Then made some changes to the form. Presumably changing my gender. My heart was racing! I didn't expect that! I had resigned myself to getting my name changed but still carrying my birth gender id until I completed GRS. Oh wow!
Then, he asked to see my birth certificate.
Oops. All my preparations and I forgot this crucial piece of documentation.
When I told him I didn't have it, he said that they couldn't verify my citizenship without it. He then asked if I could get it and when I could come back.
I told him I would get it and bring it back tomorrow (Friday). He said there was no telling what the next day would be like, and all that needed to be done was to verify the birth information, he wrote a note indicating I should go to his station directly the next day and stamped it with the office stamp.
I just about floated out of the office. I seem to be doing that a lot lately…
That evening I went back to the house and collected my birth records. I had the original and a certified copy from when I was getting a passport.
The next day I went back to the SSA office. I wanted to get there early so I would hopefully beat the line.
Unfortunately that nice guard wasn’t in and the new guard really wasn’t interested with my note to be shown to the head of the line. I had to sign in as I did the previous day. Ah well, no big deal. But I did have to wait about twenty minutes to be seen.
I saw a different person this time and we started the process from the beginning. About midway through the process the person I had seen the previous day wandered by and waved to me. He said to the lady processing my request that he could take over if she wanted. She said no, she had it under control. She processed the name change with no problem, but didn’t offer to change my gender. I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to ask so I did. She looked at me and said yes. And asked for my documentation. I handed over my papers and she looked at them and made some notations on the form.
She then printed out the update and asked me to review it. She had made one error in my address and I pointed it out to her. I also noted that the gender still said male. She made the corrections, printed out a new copy and had me review it. She underlined the changes she made including my new address and gender.
I said that everything looked correct now. And I started to grin and my heart started racing.
She printed out a receipt for me to sign and said my new card would arrive in about two weeks.
I thanked her for her assistance and that she had made me a very happy woman. She smiled back and said thanks and have a nice day. Oh wow, would I!
When I got to the lobby I had to sit down and catch my breath. Just like the court appearance I was light headed from having accomplished this. And Carl wasn’t around to hug me, dammit!
After a few minutes, my breathing returned to normal and I felt like I could get back to the office without passing out.
With my critical records now changed, I have achieved validity. For most of my life I have felt like a ghost, an ethereal being. Because (barry) was documented. Barry had the name and the records. *I* had no validity. I was not known in society. Consequently, I felt everything I did had no meaning. Now (barry) is the ghost, and I am * real *.
-Sandy (not ethereal anymore!)
BTW: The obscure reference to my old name as (barry) comes from a Mel Brooks movie "To Be or Not To Be". Which is, in my opinion, one of his better films. Anyway at the beginning of the movie Brooks’ character is being assailed by his film and real life wife, Anne Bancroft. She is complaining that he is taking too much credit on the theatre posters. His name is three times the size of hers; her name is in all lower case, and in parenthesis! That has stayed with me as a really funny bit. Anyway, now you know.
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