The Turtle
At the Social Security office. Like all government offices, they have pictures of the president, vice-couchfucker, and whoever runs SSA in the waiting room. They are far too far away for me to have to look at them, and they're too high on the wall for me to piss on them.
Mar 19 at 6:15pmWeb
Show threadThe Turtle3d ago

Amusingly, directly above me they have a chirpy sign that lists Things You Can Do Online, and first among them is "request a replacement social security card."

Yeah, bullshit. That specific reason is the only reason I drove 8 miles here and am sitting on steel benches.

Show threadNot that Nicole...3d ago
@the_turtle one of my friends is going through that. The online request system sends you through an endless loop.
Show threadThe Turtle2d ago

@nikkid mine was supposedly really simple: I need to replace a little paper card. A card that isn't even proof of much of anything but a number. They were welcome to just fucking mail it to my address of record, a place to which they send thousands of dollars every month without ever asking me to show ID from the day I filed.

But for a little piece of paper, I have to go in and show them other pieces of paper, and the lady says "thank you!" and smiles and sends it to my address of record.

Show threadNot that Nicole...2d ago
@the_turtle yep, my friend is also trying to get the new card. She doesn't ever remember even having the original. She just memorized the number years ago and has been using it ever since.
Show threadThe Turtle2d ago

@nikkid they will tell you "your actual card is not needed for most transactions," but for things it's needed for, it's absolutely needed.

Virginia, for example, really wants to see the little piece of paper.

My original card six decades ago said right on it NOT TO BE USED FOR IDENTIFICATION.

Any system that depends on humans preserving and presenting little pieces of paper is pretty much fucked in 2026.

Show threadNot that Nicole...2d ago
@the_turtle yep, she also lives in VA. She hasnt been able to get an appointment yet. She did get someone on the phone who was very nice but also could not get her an appointment. There are 3 offices she can get to in about 30 minutes and none have appointments.
Show threadThe Turtle2d ago
@nikkid yeah, it seems like their system doesn't have an I-don't-care-how-long-it-takes option, they have a date range, and if they have nothing in that date range, you're fucked. As it was, the one I had yesterday was scheduled around eight weeks in advance. Longer than that and they probably would have told me they had nothing.
Show threadThe Turtle2d ago

@nikkid this process started last September. Their new process demanded I come in in person. Then assholeboy shut the government down, and when it opened back up I had to start over. Got an appointment in January, which got hosed because of that snow/ice storm we got. SSA doesn't automatically reschedule, of course. So I started again and got this March appointment. I fully expected it to get fucked up again, but now it's done.

It was nice to talk to the lady and hear they still use my system.

Show threadThe Turtle2d ago

@nikkid did you know they actually have a limit on replacement cards, like your college ID used to do?

They don't charge money, but if you request 3 new cards in a year, or more than 10 in your lifetime, they flag it and can ask you to come in anyway and I guess they ask whazzup.

Anti-tearism shit from the Bush years.

https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0110205400

(I built that site!!!!!)
(AND trump HASN'T FUCKED IT UP!!!!!)

SSA - POMS: RM 10205.400 - Limits on Replacement SSN Cards - 06/14/2024

Limits on Replacement SSN Cards

Show threadBill3d ago

@the_turtle

Filling out the forms and playing with the pencils?

Show threadThe Turtle3d ago
@w_b it's all modern now. Checkin' in at the kiosk and watchin' the tv screens. Still, steel lattice benches are ass-pains.