Getting a last-minute passport isn't ideal, but if you ever find yourself on a last-minute trip and needing to renew your passport, make sure you cushion in as many days as possible as you visit the Federal Building's Passport Office and pay the extra $60 expedite fee. On Thursday last week, my appointment was at 10:30 a.m. -- so I got there at 9:45. I finally saw a Passport Office agent at around 11:45.
It took 2 minutes to submit my paperwork and go on my way. OK. I'll just quickly pick it up at Will Call on Friday, right? Right. 11 a.m., come back tomorrow.
I came back on Friday -- at noon, figuring I'd give them a bit more time to finish the job. The line at Will Call snaked around the Federal Building. I was not going to make my 1 p.m. lunch. I moved it to 1:30. The line slowly moved. I finally got to the front at about 1:30. I had pushed my lunch again to 2.
"Sorry, your passport isn't ready yet. Get back in line."
That's me. Whaaaa???
I got back in line. My passport was finally ready at 2:30. The people standing in line in front of me had been through the line four times. They had a 5:45 flight. Talk about cutting it close -- but they finally got their passports at 2:30 as well, and booked it to LAX. Me? Annoyed at having missed my lunch. But at least I got my passport.
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