What Happened to the Troublemaker in Class?

Just going to get right in to it...

Fact: There is no denying that my better half and I have avoided going to the SSO for 2+ years. We have been married for more than 3 years and did not rush out to get her name changed for a couple of different reasons; we were going to be using our passports and didn't want to go through the hassle of getting new ones immediately before our trip (which was scheduled soon after getting married) and we weren't in a rush to have her name officially changed. I didn't care if she changed it or not. I was never insecure about it, it never bothered me!

A culmination of factors finally prompted us to put a proverbial check mark next to the "change last name" item on the to do list.

We pulled in to the parking lot and upon opening the the car door, we were hit with a cloud of what can only be described of as a combination of body odor, ash trays and day old empty beer bottles. I will forever associate that smell with apathy.

The SSO opens at 9am, we entered the building at 9:15. On the back wall there were four windows, three of which were occupied with agents whom were servicing the early risers. The place had been open for 15 minutes and the security guard was already looking at his watch. The atmosphere in the room seemed to suck the energy out of anyone/anything that occupied it longer than 12 seconds. It was teeming with people that already had taken a number, after taking ours we relunctantly sat in the corner.

After 85 seconds, I empathized with the security guard. Three minutes in to the experience, my neighbor realized the guy across from him was an old high school buddy and they proceeded to reminisce, which would have been fine if they were next to each other but they were separated by more than twenty feet. We were all privy to the convo which consisted of comparing parole officers, food stamps and the holy grail "section 8". "I'm trying to get me a piece o dat sektion 8" one said to the other after comparing notes on the two local Hope Centers....

While taking it all in, I was speechless. I couldn't hear myself think. I tried to block it out and converse with my wife but after stuttering uhhs and umms (clearly distracted) I gave up.

I'll tell you what it was like....In grade/middle and high school, everyone had two or three kids in thier class that were different. You could tell they had a rough start to life, their home life wasn't "ideal". They came to school unkempt, they were loud and insolent and distracted. They were the ones that your parents didn't want to be friends with....right??? That Social Security Office was nothing more than a room full of those kids, they were all grown up, same story but different setting.

No doubt, there were people there for legitimate reasons with unfortunate circumstances, I realize that and am not insensitive to that. I am not an elitist, I know that some people cannot help themselves. But the overwhelming majority of people in that office were just trying to get a free ride. They were trying to do just enough to get by.

I can hear my parents now, "don't be lazy, do it right", weather they were talking about doing homework or cutting grass, it was the same philosophy. It takes twice as long when you "half ass it" (dad's words, not mom's) as opposed to doing it right the first time.