MondayLunchCrew

It's probably a bad time to have it done, but my passport is nearing expiration so I figure I'd better renewal it soon so that I can travel with peace of mind. So, I took my application form, ids, and knitting to the passport office yesterday.

The lines were ridiculously long. I was well armed. I went nearing the end of day so that it won't be as long lines as first thing in the morning (3 hours!) and went prepared with knitting. I spent in total 1h and 45 minutes waiting from start to finish. I managed to knit my way though most of it and nearly finished turning a heel on a sock; I only had two more rows left when I got home.

I looked around the waiting room many times during this wait and saw a few people reading, some books, some papers. I saw a few playing cell phone games. 4 or 5 moms needing to tend to children. Barely anyone doing business on the phone or computer. (I'm sure it's because of the office I was in, it's more residential and not in a business area.) I had to wait for nearly 100 numbers to go ahead of me and maybe 20-30 more after me all sharing the same waiting room. Of this sample, I was the only one knitting. Most people were staring off into space or whispering to some one. Most people were bored out of their brains. Some were more annoyed than others. But I swear except for a couple who were reading, no one had a more enjoyable and quicker waiting time than myself.

If you are in Canada and trying to get your passport, here's a tip I learned yesterday while in line. Wish I knew this before hand. Fill in your application online using Passport Online and then take the info to the passport office and you'll jump the line! So instead of a three hour wait, you might have to wait 15-45 minutes. And of course, when the wait lines were even shorter, you barely have to wait five minutes. It seems like a good idea.

Labels: Knitting

// posted by May @ 11/22/2006 12:22:00 p.m.