U.S. Passport

Oh, brother.  A government passport (is there any other kind?) can be a pain in butt to obtain.  So many conditions.  If you lost your previous passport, then a birth certificate is required to obtain a replacement.  But I'm an American citizen!  Doesn't matter.  But I thought that there were privileges that came with being an American citizen . . . . 

Then the woman at the window who processed my forms wore leotards instead of a uniform.  Instead of GI pants or skirt, we got her own personal leotard; this, an official of the federal government.  

While my eyes assessed this performance and perhaps took in too much, another woman behind me in line stepped forward because she heard the news that the forms needed to be filled in with black ink.  A few people in line filled theirs in with blue ink.  

They take 4-6 weeks to process and arrive at your residents.  You can pay extra to expedite it in 2 to 3 weeks.  

The costs, the costs.  Always the costs.  The passport itself costs $135. Processing fee is $1.25  Photographs (two) costs $15.  And then there is .75 for something or other.  Total came to $152.  Incredible what things cost these days.