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shawn time 23.59.33..06.19.05
ID
An update on Tom...
Evidentally, the key to unlocking the entire issue with getting a man his ID (read: identity) back is a library card.
The issue was that Tom was not able to cash his social security checks because all he had was an expired Washington ID, and Fred Meyer was onto it. Freddy's let it slide for months. The checks were stacking up, and we had no way of cashing them.
All Tom had was an expired WA ID and a social security card.
Ideally, what Tom needed was a bank account. In order to get a bank account, he needed a current ID, in order to get an Oregon ID card, he needed 2 primary pieces of ID, which need both picture AND signature (it is a bit more complex than that, but...). SS card does not count without a picture ID.
At one point we thought Tom's service discharge papers (DD-214) would help us. So we went to that VA last summer, they said that they would send them. They didn't. (side note: to get into the Federal Building downtown you need a current picture ID. The VA offices are in the Federal Building. They almost did not let Tom in.). So a couple month ago we sent for them (DD-214 papers) again, and they came this time. A closer reading of the DMV requirements found that a SS card and DD-214 doesn't cut it. The DD-214, which I thought was going to be the key, unlocks nothing.
We needed to figure out how to get Tom's birth certificate. Tom was born in Idaho. I call Idaho. To get a birth certificate, he needed to send his SS card.
"That's it?"
"Yep"
"Really?"
"Yep"
"That's awesome."
"Yep. Oh, and throw in another piece in that has his signature on it."
"What?"
"Yeah, just throw in one other piece of ID also."
"Uh...like what?"
"Like a current drivers license, or library card."
"Library card?"
"Yep"
"Ok"
Library card. That should be easy. So I call Multnomah County library. No go. In order to get a library card, you need a current picture ID. Sucky.
Let me take a moment to list the various picture/signature ID cards that I have in my pocket right now:
Oregon drivers license
AAA membership card
PNCA Faculty card
PTCU Business Debit Card
24 Hour Fitness member card
US Bank Debit Card
and if I look at some other cards that I do not carry regularly:
Medical Examiners Certificate
J.Crew Credit Card
COMPUSA Credit Card
SoccerPlex ID card
Social Security card
Birth Certificate
USA Passport
Lake Oswego public library card
I could go out tomorrow and get any number more of these. I could potentially double that amount within the week. A fishing license, a donor card, another few credit cards, etc etc.
So, I decide to call LO library. I asked if they would give a library card to a man with an expired picture ID. I got put on hold. A supervisor was asked. I was told that they could probably arrange it. Arrange it? Arrange it. It all seemed a but shady, a bit like a mafia deal, a bit black market.
Or, it seemed like a moment of grace. A gracious bending of the rules to start a process to give a man back his identity. Tom's was lost. He was trapped without it. He could not even cash a check written to him from the government, that he earned. One grace-filled bend of the rule was THE moment. The point when you start walking downhill after a long uphill. The point where tiredness turns to ridiculous laughter. The point when... well... you get the point.
That same day we drove to the LO library. I am very grateful to the library. I started my tutoring business there. Before I started tutoring in homes, I met all of my students there. I have spent many hours there. They don't know me there. I just think that its cool that there is some history for me there. They were not doing me a favor. I believe that it was a geniune God-given gift for Tom.
It only took a few minutes to fill out the paperwork. Tom signed the card, I vouched for his address. I think they knew that he would never check out a book. Maybe even never again step foot in the place. I think they understood what was going on. I like to believe they did. I like the story that way.
Its all a downhill coast from here...
The library card gets sent with the SS card and $18 to Idaho to get a expedited birth certificate. Tom was adopted, so that added a bit of a hiccup in tracking down the proper name on the certificate, but we got it a couple weeks later.
The birth certificate, SS card, a piece of mail showing current home address, and $29 was taken to the DMV (the Lake Oswego one, of course), and after a few minutes Tom walks out with a valid current picture ID card. My friend Laura stopped by later that day, and Tom was out on the porch having a smoke, and the first thing he did was show her the ID card. It was like a kid showing off his new bike.
The ID card, SS card, birth certificate, and 2 SS checks were taken to Wells Fargo to open a checking account. 45 minutes later Tom has a checking account, savings account, and his SS checks are going to be automatically direct deposited for him. No matter where Tom goes, no matter where he lives, he will always have access to his money. He will never have to rely on me, or an absent-minded Fred Meyer clerk to cash his checks. It is his money. Deposited every month for the rest of his life.
Personal checks arrived a few days later. Debit card a few days after that.
Tom now has:
SS card
Birth Certificate
DD-214 Papers
Lake Oswego Library Card
Oregon ID Card
Wells Fargo Debit Card
6.
6.
6.
6.
6.
6.
It took a year to go from 1 (SS card) to 6.
Now, if he wants, he could double that number tomorrow.
Comments
bob Hyatt wrote this at 03.00.52..06.20.05
dude... redemptive acts. thanks for being more available and making more of a difference in someone's life than most of us ever dream. total inspiration.
and... J.Crew credit card? :)
Mom wrote this at 07.08.07..06.20.05
You really make me proud to be your Mom.....I love the fact that you stuck with the endless process and finally had a positive outcome....
Traci wrote this at 09.50.05..06.20.05
You have a Medical Examiners Certificate?
(and of course all the rest is awesome!)
shawn wrote this at 12.18.30..06.20.05
well, the medical examners certificate is actually expired now. it was just a card we got for somethign we did at village. maybe it was a mission trip (klemtu?) or for a cdl thing.....i dunno.
i am not a medical examiner, no.
melanie wrote this at 08.34.09..06.21.05
Shawn, thank you for updating us all on your quest for ID for Tom. I am sitting at work reading that and crying. I am so happy for Tom ... thank you for doing that for him! What a difference you have made for him.
Bridget wrote this at 13.09.25..07.01.05
Wow,
What a story, I bet Tom is feeling wonderfull for what you have done for him. Indpendence is Priceless. Congrats
Bridget
Mike Lee wrote this at 18.26.38..08.30.05
hey, figured you'd check in here (wasn't sure). I remember hearing this story at xcursion. Don't know if ya remember me, i was the horn player that was in your disciple corner of math questions :) And i think i figured out an answer to the question about if i was 2 steps away and decreased the distance by 1/2 each time whether or not you would actually reach your target. What's your email and i'll email ya what i think.
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