I been absent for a couple days, mostly because I am sick (got this nasty cold, and I am wiped, have no energy, and little inspiration for the blog, work or anything else). This is not the only reason, yesterday I went to have my biometrics taken at an immigration center, no I am not a criminal, I just want a Green Card, and this is part of the process. I was a little nervous, not sure why, I just was. At 8:30 I left my place, even if my appointment was not until 10 am, the center was somewhere south of Alexandria, in a place I had never been to, and my driving instructions told me that it would take me 40 minutes to get there, I thought I would give myself 1.5 hours, just in case I get lost. You must all think I am exaggerating, but not, at the bottom of the notice I got from the INS, it said that if one misses one’s appointment, the process is considered abandoned, and I have not been here for 7 years (almost 8) to have anything considered abandoned.
Where was I, ohh yes, so off I went, across the river, and down 395, then up Fairfax County Parkway, after some ups and downs in Virginia’s country side, I got to the place at 9:30 or so. See good thing I gave myself time. I went in to a very anonymous looking facility and promptly got a form to fill and was told to then get a number and then wait. I sat down, filled the form and bonded with my people, of course the majority of people there were my people, so I felt right at home, it could have been El Salvador, or Mexico City, except for the Vietnamese people running the show. I filled the form and in true bureaucratic way, a secretary checked my form, and gave me a number, then told me to go sit in another part of the room and wait for my number to be called. I opened by Smithsonian Magazine and waited for a bit, then in like 15 minutes or so, my number got called. This ancient looking man, who had to be like 150, took my fingerprints, all of them, there were like 20 prints and then my mug shot. I shaved, so I looked decent. Just like that in 5 minutes it was all over, all my nerves and anxiety for nothing. At 10 am I was out of the center and in my car reviewing my shopping list. How better to celebrate than by some shopping. Off I went to Homo Depot and got new lights for the apartment and then off the Targay where I was just looking for some decorations and miscellaneous stuff, but ended up just getting the random stuff, cuz none of the decorations were nice enough.
The rest of the day I spent inside, trying to get over the cold and going through papers and crap that needs to be sorted in the apartment.
1 comment:
It's horrible to be treated like a criminal, isn't it? I sometimes am made to feel like a criminal when I'm going to a meeting and the office building has a "concierge" who I (naturally) attempt to walk right by, but who firmly calls me back to show ID and announce who I'm visiting.
A minor thing, compared to being fingerprinted, yet I find it infuriating. One good thing about it is that whenever it happens, I have a lot more sympathy for the plight of black men. I understand why so many are so angry. They constantly experience being presumed guilty.
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