We made a midmorning trip to the post office to update kids’ passports. Other people happened to be there for the same task so we had an interminable wait watching them fill out papers before we were all led through the back sorting area into a small room set up for passport photography. The pictures were taking forever so I left the room to see what the back of the post office looks like. Huge bins on wheels, lots of cubbies. Published posters about conflict resolution and how to use a polite tone were on the wall and so were three home made posters with magazine collages with war themes: one was covered with
pictures of soldiers in Iraq and another was covered with photos of different military planes. I was intrigued by the whole inner workings so I took out my camera to take some fotos. I didn’t photograph people so I didn’t see that it would be a problem. After 2 quick shots, I returned to the little room. The kids were still waiting to be
photographed. After a few minutes, a woman came in and started scolding me about taking photos. I apologized for not asking and she kept ranting. I showed her the fotos on my camera and even offered to delete them, but she kept blasting at me. She left and the kids were photographed and we returned to the main postal line where we were waiting for more papers to be filled out. The woman came out there with
paper and pen and told me she needed my name and phone number just in
case her boss would want to call me this week. I gave both politely but I was pretty freaked out, since it was dawning on me that she perhaps suspected me of working for a terrorist group. I wondered if taking pictures inside the post office was some kind of federal offense but I hadn't seen any warning signs. All day I’ve been in a wicked bad mood worrying if someone’s going to show up at my door to confiscate my beloved camera or to take me in for questioning. My family was irked by the whole thing and husbandman accused me of staging a scenario so I could blog about it. He apologized later when he realized how upset I was. I probably used bad judgment in taking the photos, but give me a break. I wasn’t touring a nuclear facility, I was walking through a room where people sort envelopes. Maybe those hand made posters have something to do with this?
We made a midmorning trip to the post office to update kids’ passports. Other people happened to be there for the same task so we had an interminable wait watching them fill out papers before we were all led through the back sorting area into a small room set up for passport photography. The pictures were taking forever so I left the room to see what the back of the post office looks like. Huge bins on wheels, lots of cubbies. Published posters about conflict resolution and how to use a polite tone were on the wall and so were three home made posters with magazine collages with war themes: one was covered with pictures of soldiers in Iraq and another was covered with photos of different military planes. I was intrigued by the whole inner workings so I took out my camera to take some fotos. I didn’t photograph people so I didn’t see that it would be a problem. After 2 quick shots, I returned to the little room. The kids were still waiting to be photographed. After a few minutes, a woman came in and started scolding me about taking photos. I apologized for not asking and she kept ranting. I showed her the fotos on my camera and even offered to delete them, but she kept blasting at me. She left and the kids were photographed and we returned to the main postal line where we were waiting for more papers to be filled out. The woman came out there with paper and pen and told me she needed my name and phone number just in case her boss would want to call me this week. I gave both politely but I was pretty freaked out, since it was dawning on me that she perhaps suspected me of working for a terrorist group. I wondered if taking pictures inside the post office was some kind of federal offense but I hadn't seen any warning signs. All day I’ve been in a wicked bad mood worrying if someone’s going to show up at my door to confiscate my beloved camera or to take me in for questioning. My family was irked by the whole thing and husbandman accused me of staging a scenario so I could blog about it. He apologized later when he realized how upset I was. I probably used bad judgment in taking the photos, but give me a break. I wasn’t touring a nuclear facility, I was walking through a room where people sort envelopes. Maybe those hand made posters have something to do with this?
Comments
I think all your readers will sympathize with the injustices done to you.
xoxo
jw
jdoc, i liked that movie too. i don't think i can be successful not getting angry, but i'm getting pretty good at apologizing, explaining and starting again, and accepting that i'm a flawed human being. happy school week to you.