August 6, 2025
I’ve been up for an hour. This seems to be the time that I have not quite gotten over my jetlag. I’ve been waking up at this time every night, and I usually take something to help edge me back into sleep. And then by seven or eight in the evening, I’m so eager to go to bed!
But this time I had a reason to stay up in the middle of the night. I got another message from my buddy Joanie about the drama of her “rushed” passport. And she will definitely not be getting on her flight to Bali tonight.
When you go to Google and type in “rush passport” or any one of a number of search terms you might use that indicate that you need a passport in a hurry, a whole lot of scams show up on your screen…and Joanie unfortunately fell for one of them.
It’s been nine days since her “one-day”passport was supposed to be processed and arrive. And no one, not the fuckery of a company she hired, and not the state department, knows where it is. The last the state department knew her new passport was being printed in Alabama and there wasn’t yet a tracking number indicating where it was, whether it had been sent, or when it might arrive. And they only deliver by UPS or the US mail, not overnight FedEx service. They call it 1-2 day service.
Joanie was supposed to fly to Bali tonight. Apparently not. No passport, no flight.
Now she has to look into what it will take to change her flight. And decide whether it’s worth it to go to San Francisco tomorrow to start the whole process over again in person— new forms, new passport photos, new expedited fees.
This “gift” from me is turning into a stressful nightmare.
I’m sorry for both of us.
My fingers are still crossed she finds a way.