Thursday, April 09, 2009

Not Standard Issue!

I am moving in 29 days. To a foreign country. TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY. I have no passport yet, and we are having issues with things. So here is our "debacle" to date! And I should have LOVELY daily updates about how FABULOUS this whole thing is going to be. Or something. Yes, I'm gonna go with or something! Yesterday, we had to take our passport applications to some lady named Roxy. Who works at the passport office here on base. Roxy informed Paulo that he was to come by at his earliest convenience because MY work schedule can be hard to predict and schedule things around. (And it's only thanks to Holly that we could even go YESTERDAY as it was!) When we got there, we had to sign in, and wait to be called. So OTHER lady, who was not Roxy came to the door and began to attempt to lecture Paulo about not having an appointment. Didn't bother to ask WHY we didn't have an appointment, just to tell us there was nothing SHE could do without one. After FINALLY getting it through to her that it was VERY important that we get these applications processed, she called us back. And this is where she proceeded to MAKE ME CRY. (You know, if you ever meet a military wife in person, give her a hug. Or buy her liquor.) This lady, who does not bother to read the paper that says we are just now filing our applications because of a clerical error in Mississippi, and the fact that because of Hurricane Katrina we've only been "allowed" to get Big Z's birth certificate for just over a year, goes OFF on a tirade. And her tirade was something that in my world NO ONE SAYS OUT LOUD. You know those things that you just don't say out loud in order to make them appear less real? The ones no one admits to but everyone knows about? She said "the military doesn't care if you ever get to Germany. The only thing they care about is that your husband gets there at the date on his orders, and if you don't get your passports in time, oh well. They don't care. Your expedite letter probably won't mean anything and they will most likely not accept it." OH MY GOD! I have known this for YEARS now. YEARS. But again, you don't say it out loud. It's an unwritten rule. And this lady? She was not in the military. She was a civilian. And we have filed an official complaint against her. Because really? Like I don't have enough stress going on without her telling me that no one cares? I am a "good" military wife. I'm in the club of, YAY! We're PCSing!. Not OMG, We're PCSing!. I don't flip out. But now? I think I'm going to start. It's the expected behavior. Our unwritten rules about family is this: If the military wanted you to have a family, they would issue you one. Sad, but true. That was yesterday...now to today... *************************** We had an appointment with the people who move our crap. The ones who come in and pack everything while I do what I do best a supervise. You are supposed to give them 30 days. We are at 29, cutting it close, but we've only had "official" orders since Tuesday. Not a WHOLE LOT we could do until now. Our base is currently undergoing a HUGE inspection. It's yearly. We expect it. We plan for it. Usually, there's not a LOT of interruption to our daily lives. (By "our" I mean spouses and such. I know there are a TON of people who are putting in long days unfortunately.) Today, we drive to the building where our appointment is. Well, we ATTEMPTED to drive to the building were the appointment was. Every road was being guarded by a cop with an M16. Each guard informed us that there MIGHT be another way to the building, but that they couldn't let us by. So we have YET to schedule movers. Because they are pretending people are trying to blow up buildings. And I am not happy about this. Not because I don't think we should make sure our troops are prepared. But because by checking to see if the people here are prepared to "complete the mission" it is interfering with them ACTUALLY completing the mission. Someone get me a drink. Or a Xanex. Or heck, BOTH at this point!!!

3 Thoughts on This:

Faerylandmom said...

Holy. Cow. Just. Wow.

For what it's worth...I think you are an "amazing" military wife. Not just a "good" one. And. That other-lady-not-Roxy can suck it.

Aunt Becky said...

You handle all of this a thousand times better than I ever could.

SarahHub said...

...sending you a virtual margarita...