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Back in September 2020-January 2021, I had two posts on Why the Mails are Slow (both are accessed from this one link). https://ricochet.com/881927/the-mails-are-still-slow/
This is the sort of government inefficiency that Mssrs. Musk and Ramaswamy should have in their sights.
It now pleases me to report an example of extraordinary government efficiency in, of all places, the Department of State. That is the Passport Office.
Preparing for a trip to Amsterdam in May 2025, I noted that my passport expires in April (thank you, Rick Steve, for suggesting checking passports before even buying airfare!). So, hoping to avoid a trip to the USPS, I searched "renew passport online" and was rewarded with a link to such a service! While practicing telemedicine on Thursday, November 7, I had a 20-minute break between patients. I went to the link and gathered the necessary documents, viz.: my expiring passport, my Visa card and a recent passport-quality photo. The website estimated I would require 40 minutes to fill out the application. I decided to give it a try in half that.
I was fortunate to have a passport-style headshot from a recent job application, so I pasted it in the box on the application. It was auto-rejected for being too close up, but I found the uncropped image, which was accepted. I completed the application, which was easy-peasy to do, and emailed it off into the ether in time to see my next patient.
Later that day I received an email saying that my application had been received and would be reviewed when my CC charge cleared. On Tuesday, November 12, I received an email telling me that my application was being reviewed. On Friday, November 15, I received an email telling me that my application was approved, my new passport printed, and that it would arrive by priority mail on or about Wednesday, November 20.
It arrived on Saturday, November 16.
The moral of my story is that governmental functions are not necessarily slow and inefficient. Whatever process was applied to expedite passport processing, which, in this case, was efficient, courteous, communicative and brisk. This could be applied to thousands of other governmental functions.
In your dreams...
Discussion (18)
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Just checked. Still have a couple of years to go. Not planning on going anywhere anyway.
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I renewed last year. It was easy and ahead of schedule. I didn't even expedite.
One could only hope.
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Great to know. My passport expires in August.
Depending on where you go, a passport valid at the time of arrival may not be enough. Even if a visa isn't necessary, the country you're entering may require at least 6 months' validity. I had vague plans to visit Peru and Bolivia, but if I firm those up, it better be before February.
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And how much is willful? Permits for Class 3 firearms (suppressors, full auto, short barrel) approval times slowly climbed to a year or more and then suddenly dropped to a matter of a few days. That can’t be just some refinement of a system to improve efficiency.
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It seems that most systems are still run/managed/maintained by red blooded humans with their own ideas. Human systems also have dynamics and influence how the mechanical or electronic systems execute. Everyone who has worked in an organization of any size knows there is the prescribed set of protocols and the actual way things work, protocols be damned. PA voters are still hearing about They Who Count the Votes. The USPS is an easy target because its (excruciatingly expensive) flaws and weaknesses are well known. Who doesn’t have a local PO it’s best to avoid because its staff are miserable sullen unhelpful indifferent people and you never know what will happen to something that goes in the box there. Vineyard Haven, MA I’m talking about you.
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