I’ve been trying to get a rush job on my passport and exploring a number of different sites that offer such services. It didn’t take long to recognize that this is a crazy hustle. Individuals are hard-pressed to find an appointment without driving hours from a major metropolitan area to get an appointment to be seen. You need to be seen for such things to happen and there are no appointments anywhere because private firms book all of them and then charge people money to use these appointments. This explains why there are no available times, but there is also nobody ever taking an actual appointment. I cannot be entirely mad. These businesses are smart enough to corner a needed market. Rushmypassport, on the other hand, simply charges you to fill out the paperwork you can fill out freely online and then charges you again to send it. Yeah, they really hustle. This isn’t like the tax paperwork situation–no they don’t help you fill it out or do anything but merely show you where to click and sign for normal passport action. For rush action they generally rely on the same appointment booking scheme that everyone else does. The end result is an industry built upon leaving government workers with nothing to do all day…
And me struggling to get a passport renewed.
Some Thoughts:
- I’ll be talking basketball on Waiver Wednesday and, perhaps, a little moneyball conversation about my sad sad Knicks.
- I want to spend 1,000 on a solid espresso machine. Maybe more. I want the hotness. I lack the cash. I need a better income stream.
- Or less expensive tastes…
- And fewer kids…