Lines

Obscenely long lines that don't have a cool ride at the end just plain SUCK. I was at the Social Security Office and I stood in line for almost three hours. That was after going to the Manhattan office last week only to find out that you have to go to the office in your county. For me that's Queens and it was the last stop out on the E train. It took a long time to get out there, but I have to say the lady was very nice and very efficient- there were just so many people. I'm sure they were all taking advantage of not having to be at work today, too, but somehow I thought that I might be the only person who would want to be there on New Year's Eve. I was wrong. Something that just struck me as silly was the conversation between two women in front of me. They were complete strangers sharing personal information with one another in a line that was full of people listening including me. The younger girl- we'll call her Kathy to protect her identity (Not that she cared all that much)- was the talker and shared far more information than the other woman (I don't know her name) who was there to get her new baby girl, Elise, a social security card. Kathy is 26, grew up in Westchester, went to college in Albany, now lives in Elmhurst, Queens with her new husband that she married on October 28th. They had previously lived in Astoria (Queens), Greenpoint (Brooklyn) and Williamsburg (Brooklyn). There were 160 people at the wedding and she converted from Catholicism to Judaism for her new husband. But not to worry, he's Reform so she still gets to have a Christmas tree. They are waiting two years to have kids and her mother-in -law was unwilling to help them financially with the wedding. Warning!- if you are already complaining to perfect strangers about your mother-in-law after only two months, get into therapy now! Her job situation is a little precarious. The company she works for (she's a buyer for a retail clothing store- which again I will not name to protect her identity) was bought out and she is in the process of being downsized. I do have to say that I caught all this information while attempting to read my Time magazine in which they named Vladimir Putin as the Person of the Year. When these women said their good-byes I was shocked that they didn't exchange phone numbers. They knew more about one another than some of my friends know about me. Then again, I do have a blog. Strange how we are able to rationalize things...

Oh and by the way- HAPPY NEW YEAR's! Be safe and have a great time!!!