Becoming a Chauffeur - Part 1

The Beginning of a Long Process
Becoming a chauffeur in Singapore is easier than I thought, all I have to do is hold a driver's license printed in English.  NY driver's license, here I come.  Step 1 - proving my identity to the Department of Motor Vehicles.  With just a passport and an original social security card I could prove who I am.  Of course, I couldn't find my original card so I had to get a new one.  In order to prove my identity to the Social Security Administration all I needed was a passport.  So, if you do the math, the DMV should be able to accept just a passport, right?  But why fight it?  Off to the Social Security Administration I went.

I chose a Monday morning at 7:30am, when I was sure to be among the few at that hour. I had to pass through more security than I would to meet the President. There sure must be a lot of pissed off people visiting the place.  I got a ticket from the guard and waited my turn.  It was a large windowless room with oversized zombies sitting behind large panes of bulletproof glass.  I was in line, alone.  Just me, holding my ticket.  I looked up at the monitor, which was showing a large red zero.  Glanced back at my ticket, which had a large "1" on it.  None of the zombies would meet my eye.  A guard was raking an ancient vacuum cleaner across the dusty carpet.  I saw the dust shooting out of a crack in the hose and billowing into the air.  Ten minutes, still alone, still a zero on the monitor.  Twenty minutes, I hear a click and see a huge red "1" on the monitor.  I went over to one of the zombies at the window, slid across my passport and form and waited.  Twenty seconds later, the zombie grunted that my card would arrive within a week.