Bizarre policy

Yesterday, before I met my angel for our leisurely lunch, I stopped to renew my driver's licence and my health card, both of which will expire on my birthday this year.

It's such a treat to be able to take care of this stuff at the one stop now and living in a small town adds to the convenience factor.  Never any waiting!

But I was stunned when the clerk told me to remove my glasses, step in front of the backdrop, and don't smile.

"Really?" I said, "Without my glasses, it won't look much like me."

"Yes," she responded, "it's the new policy."

She took the photo and I went back to the counter to finish up the paperwork.

Then she asked if I had the renewal form for my  health card and was surprised when I told her that I hadn't received a renewal.  I simply knew that it had to be renewed because my driver's licence was due for renewal.

Then I changed the explanation to tell her that actually it was my doctor's office that called my attention to the fact that my health card was coming up for renewal.  And that alerted me to the fact that my driver's licence would also be expiring.  She seemed truly surprised that I was aware of the correlation.

Anyway, she instructed me to again remove my glasses and go back to have another photo taken.

"You can't use the same one?" I asked.

"No, we aren't allowed to cut and paste," she replied.

So, some time -- hopefully before my birthday -- I will receive my new driver's licence and my new health card.

Each with a different photo, having been taken within minutes of each other, of someone who may or may not look much like me.

And I'll be stuck with those cards for the next five years!

I can't imagine how these ID cards are helpful in terms of proving identity.  If a person ALWAYS wears eyeglasses I think the photo should reflect that, otherwise the person could quite possibly look like Mr. Magoo.  So the official looks at the person to whom they are speaking, looks at the photo, and says, "Hmmm, I suppose it might be the same person, remove your glasses please so I can compare."

Bizarre policy if you ask me.