We were prepared to spend the whole afternoon in the Social Security Office today. But ended up pleasantly surprised! Can it be that some of our bureaucracies are starting to run like businesses? With the client in mind? Could it be that having really angry people always in their faces, after waiting in endless lines, only to be told they didn't have the right paperwork, wasn't working? After all, people are a little crazy right now - you never know when one will come in with guns blazing. At any rate, it wasn't an awful experience, and we were out of there in an hour. The people working were very pleasant, and efficient. Yay!
It seems a bit silly that I need to have a physical copy of my social security card in order to get a driver's license in the state I was born in, and have only been away from for five years. It wasn't enough that I had the number, I needed to show the card. As if you couldn't just have one made, if that was your intention. Plenty of forgers out there. Unless, and I will know when it comes in the mail, it now has some kind of holographic number or sign that proves it isn't a fake. Now I'm curious. The last time I had a SS card I was about fifteen and it was a piece of card-stock. When was the last time you had to show your SS card?
33 comments:
Ee gad, it's been eons since I had to show my SS card. But I need to go order one. I lost mine along the way. Hologram huh? No waiting all day? I might just get my butt down there.
First of all, I shuddered at the title of your post. SS in all the books I read wasn't a good thing. Oh! Social Security!
Now that I am on SS I must show my card every time I go to the doctor's office. I had to show it to get benefits, the number wasn't enough. At the hospital I will go to if I need to be admitted for any reason,I must have the actual card or if not with me, go get it.
It's a strange world we live in, isn't it? Glad to hear how easy your experience ended up being. It's a start...
Last time I went to the Social Security office (several years ago) they had a security officer sitting at a desk in the office. Wonder if that's changed in my area?
Every time you get a new job now you need to "prove" you're who you say you are with either a passport or a driver's license and a Socials Security card. When Son #3 applied for his permit he needed the card (which was nowhere to be found). When I took him to get a duplicate, I ordered one for myself, too.
Holy cow! I haven't had my actual card since my very early 20s and have no idea how it got lost. Well, I won't apply for SS for another 3 years so I guess I've got plenty of time to get one.
Hipaa regulations should protect your privacy rights as well as the Right to Privacy Act.
There is other means of identification than the Social Security card. With this day an age of Identity Theft, we have a right to deny giving out this information.
I deny it most of the time. The only time I don't is when I am hired at a new job and Human Resources needs a copy of it, in order to put me on payroll.
If a practice discloses your number anywhere on paperwork, ie file number or patient number, you have a right to tell them to remove it and use another way of identifying your file.
I use to be an underwriter for major financial institutions, one of our safeguards was to protect the consumer's credit profile.
Good luck and safe keeping.
Mine was lost on Halloween 1987 during a taxi ride and I only got a replacement card done in 2006 because I legally changed my name - I've NEVER had to show it!!
This is hysterical. Your SS office is so nice but your DMV office is the SS Police???? I've only been asked for my birth certificate at DMV. I don't think they have the right to it either. But, what do I know??
Wait until you apply for SS benefits. Then, you need your birth certificate, your marriage certificate, your work history if different than the history recorded by SS.
You're right on the efficiency of the bureau.
I can't remember the last time I've had to SHOW my ss card. I've given out the number, but not the card. And even then, I'm never comfortable giving out that number.
I'm not even sure where mine is! I do have a photocopy with my passport and other stuff... if I remember correctly it was just a light cardboard (almost paper) thing... Would probably disintegrate if I looked at it funny! :p
So glad around here my Spanish national ID card is muuuuuch nicer! ;o)
I know mine is somewhere in the house . . . I just don't remember where I left it . . . LOL
Too long to count...LOL
Yea for efficient government...so rare but a treasure when it works out!
Have a Happy DAy!
If I had to take mine out of my wallet now, it would probably disintegrate. What irks me more than anything though is, with all of these new fangled pieces of ID such as new drivers licences, health cards, social security etc. I still need a passport to cross the border. Something I have been doing since I was 5 years old. You would think they would know me on a first name basis by now. Some of our bureaucratic services have also improved here. Somebody finally figured it out. Imagine that!
I had to show my social security card when I moved to a new state two years ago and wanted to get a new driver's license. Ofcourse, I couldn't find it, so I went in with my two birth certificates so that I could get the new SS card. Yep, I'm the only one they ever met with two legitimate birth certificates.
You're supposed to show it any time you start a new job. I haven't been able to find mine in a long time... I wonder where that went? Hmmm..
I had to show mine when I got hired at WalMart almost 10 years ago. It is in my purse along with my driver's license. The part that came with it that says to keep it in a safe place in case you ever need to apply for a new one is in my safe along with my birth certificate. My dad was a Navy man and just a tad bit anal about documents..... does it show?
Good morning from Athens, where I had to obtain a residence authorisation for being allowed to get my driving license - the last time that I was asked to show my ss card.Can't really understand the 'connection' between these papers...
This has been a topic at our house recently..Social Security. My husband is eligible and when trying to fill out the forms online, he kept getting the message that he was NOT eligible...as if he doesn't know his real age. Amazing as it may seem, they have him a year younger and therefore we are making a trip tomorrow which in our area is a 6 hour round trip! I'll let you know if they are as amiable as your visit!
I still have my original SS card..flimsy card stock and have only had to use it to acquire a passport. Lucky me!
My adult son had to get one as he had lost all of his ID cards - we scrounged together things like his high school diploma, birth certificate, etc. But once we got through the metal detectors, they were surprisingly efficient.
I've had to show it only for a job.
I haven't come across SS cards. In the UK we may or may not have ID cards, depending on the whims of government. But the security questions are growing. After a recent crashed car incident every phone call from insurance, repairer, courtesy car people, and every hospital visit, starts with a barrage of questions.
We had to make copies for our recent house appraisal.
Yeah, I wonder how much longer these will be required physically.
I'm glad the experience was quick and pleasant. That is a rarity.
Our world has changed so much. We can't trust anyone, or believe we can't, so we have to prove ourselves at every turn.
BTW, do any of your banks have a policy requiring tellers to ask customers where they got the money they're depositing? At my bank, they have to ask about any amount over $3,000. That's my favourite.
I need to go get a new one too. Because my mortgage company messed up and I have to show them my SS card to get them to fix my account number. gah. I wonder if I should get my kids new ones with the holograms, too....
You didn't have a driver's license?
Impressive blog. Interesting and unusual. I shall come again.
I had to show mine about 2 years ago when I applied for my job at the local grocery store.
I have yet to make that daring trip to the SS office to change my maiden name to my married name. I already know how terribly long the lines are. That's so great that they are becoming more customer friendly. Hopefully that attitude can come to Texas.
I have had to show my card for a driver's license at many of our multiple moves. In NJ they even used the SS # on the card but luckily stopped doing that. What a crazy idea!
I haven't visited your blog in a while. Sorry. I have been busy trying to find the balance between my creative life and mom life. Starting to get to it but of course next week my kid's schedule is completely different again! Such is the nature of summer!
i have absolutely no clue where mine is...glad to hear it did not take long as i am sure i will need mine one day...
Good grief, where has the trust gone? Seems like these SS offices operate the same worldwide.....
I absolutely refuse to believe that you had a positive experience in the SS office. This is a piece of fiction.
that's a new one on me. having to have an SS card to get a driver's license. jeesh. what will the Homeland Security folk, or whomever thought up this added annoyance, think up next? I need to apply for a passport and I dread that. I have two expired ones but do not have an original birth cert and the hospital in which I was born, no longer exists.
Top 3 worst places to wait ever.
1.Motor Vehicle Department
2.Mechanic's
3.Cell Phone Store
and now #4. Social Security Office
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