Things That Have Finally Happened
1) I have had Addison’s COC, SSN and Delayed Foreign Birth certificate in her new name since end of year 2006. Not too shabby since we came home mid-November 2006, right? So it is sad and pathetic that it has taken me THIS LONG to get my butt back to the SSA to apply for Addy’s revised SSN with her new name. I finally did it today. An hour later, I was done. The final thing we need to do, once the new SS card comes, is apply for her US passport. Then I will be FREE of adoption-related paperwork FOREVER! 
2) the man at the SSA who took my case was one of THOSE people. You know the kind…who feel qualified to ask you nosy questions AND judge you for them openly? I’m pretty immune to most nosey questions and NO ONE has ever judged me openly or called me to the table for my decision to adopt or any aspect of it. I don’t mind it when people ask me things like how much our adoption cost or whether we knew her birth mother or whether all our children are adopted. Not much phases me. But this was a first….. This guy wanted an explanation for why we did not adopt domestically. I was so taken aback because HELLO this is the SSA guy. What business is it of his to ask me such personal questions or insist I provide a plausible explanation! I’m usually pretty quick on my feet but I admit I wasn’t expecting this one. I had no idea what to tell him and the more I tried to mumble an answer, the clearer it was that my answer would not be adequate to placate him. In retrospect I wish I would have said something like “I don’t like Americans” or “We think American babies are ugly” or “you get what you pay for” or something equally offensive and ridiculous just to shock the shit out of him. Especially because when I walked into his office he started speaking to me in some foreign language I can not quite pinpoint but of which all I understood was “Do you speak English?” and he was doing it for the sole purpose of screwing with me and messing with my mind, laughing hysterically when he successed with said goal. So he would have totally deserved a little of that in return, don’t you think?
August 24th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Absolutely! What a jerk!
August 24th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Yeah, I get that question ALOT. I’ve never really learned how to deal with them. But, they are very unnerving and I usually fumble through a LAME explanation.
August 24th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Send an email to his supervisor. His behavior was entirely unprofessional and inexcusible.
August 24th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
I got that question. I replied…”Vietnam just felt right, have you adopted domestically?”…this woman dropped the conversation pretty quickly. She also asked me what aisle of the grocery I bought Parker from.
August 24th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
I agree with Tina, I would report him. I can’t believe how stupid some people are.
August 25th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
What is the matter with people? Jeez!
August 27th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I hate the international vs. domestic debate. My answer is always “I view the world without borders” and I say no more after that.
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:27 am
I stumbled a bit when I was first asked this quesiton regarding my adopted daughter of Chinese heritage. My husband, on the other hand, who was with me looked right at the woman who asked us why we adopted from China and said, ” Because that’s where my daughter was.”