We Deliver For You

I spent the day today going all over Wichita to get my passport application in order. I ended up having to go three different places: a local Kinko's to get passport photos taken, a local grocery store to obtain a money order, and my local post office to send off the bloody thing to a passport processing center in Philadelphia.

I ended up applying for a passport through the mail by expedited service. Although my school in Moscow didn't reply to my latest inquiry regarding how they wished me to handle the passport application, I figured based on the situation that expedited service through the mail was the most realistic option. Before I can apply for a visa, I will need a new Letter of Invitation from my school, which will take them four weeks to obtain from the Russian government once I have my new passport in hand. So there really isn't any realistic means of obtaining a passport faster by applying in person.

On reaching the post office, I discovered I could have taken care of everything there. The people at the counter were amazingly informative and helpful regarding how to get my application there the fastest, and what to do to make sure officialdom in Philadelphia knows I am requesting expedited service.

I tend to take a cynical view of postal workers. Partly, this is because my grandfather was a mailman for all of his working life and never had anything very nice to say about the postal service. I will always remember his great line about the USPS: "Imagine any other business where they'll deliver the product every day to you for free, but if you want to come down to the central office and pick it up yourself, they charge extra."

But today's experience at the post office was refreshing and gave me more confidence in a government bureaucracy (okay, quasi-government bureaucracy, if you want to be a stickler about it) than I have had in a long time.

Now, if only the Russian Embassy will issue me a visa promptly the next time around...