Bucking the System

Note: I'd posted this as a Note on FaceBook, & now present it -- with some edits -- as a blahg entry. Ah, sweet defiance.

New Note - 25 Dec:  Rereading this post, I'm reminded of what can only be the ultimate reason government offices insist on the name on one's birth certificate being one's legal name, as well as why a legal name change can only be done (so they say) via the court system.  If you aren't already aware of this, all government documents -- county, state, federal, etc -- bearing your name display it in all upper case letters.  This is intentionally done because your name in all caps is a legal corporation.  That's right.  It all goes back to our  country needing money because of  flaky financing to stay afloat & the founding of the Federal Reserve.  It's all very complicated, but we -- as individuals -- are not corporate entities, & we are really not responsible for the loans previous governments had obtained.  But we are under the yoke of these foreign bankers. Yeah, we'd been sold into slavery to fucking foreign bankers!  Wild, eh?

Do you still wonder why I don't want to be Merkin?

Ever decide to go by a name other than that on your birth certificate? Being an honest man, I certainly never chose to do so for fraudulent reasons. In my teens, to distinguish myself from my father (really, don't ask), I'd added an "s" to my last name. Then, in my twenties, I'd decided I wanted to go by my middle name, rather than my first name.

This didn't really create any difficulties for friends & family, though my brother Scott had refused to accept my preference.

But every time my drivers license would be coming due, I'd find myself in a new state & had to go through hassle after hassle because of my name.

Despite my birth certificate showing the initial A for my middle name, the average state government employee couldn't conceive of one going by a name other than that chosen for one & printed on one's birth certificate, let alone that the letter "A" could possibly stand for the name I told them it did.

It was simply impossible to change one's name unless a judge made it so.

Then, a few years ago, I had to renew my passport. How fascinating it was to find two name lines. One for one's legal name, & one for the name one wants on their passport.

Naturally, I chose the name I've been going by all these years.

Now, getting a drivers license in Nevada is a little trickier than the other states where I've done this, whether the license from a previous state was valid or had expired. Nevada is just different.

First I'm told that the name on my passport "contradicts" all the other ID I'd given them. From my perspective, all my ID actually supports all these variations of my name. Grant A Ferguson, Grant J Ferguson, Grant J A Ferguson, Grant Fergusson & Angus Fergusson (note the double "s" in the last two), by all my ID, are clearly one person with one social security number.

But I'm told to put my passport away or I will be denied a license. OK. After taking the written test, I'm told that my passport supersedes all my other ID. But since the name doesn't match that on my social security card, I would -- not might -- would be denied a license.

Being that I'm well aware than no one in government offices has a clue what the actual policy is, I just went ahead to the next step, to get a permit, as if nothing were wrong.

I hand Timothy my ID, sans passport. He looks it & my paperwork over & asks for my passport. I smile & hand it over. He compares all my ID, pulls up Washington State records to verify I have no wants or warrants, punches a few keys, signs my paperwork, charges me yet another fee, & sends me off to get my picture taken.

The people at this desk look everything over & have absolutely no questions for me, despite my "contradictory" ID. I get my picture taken, they hand me back all my ID & tell me where to go the day I'm scheduled to take the driving test.

Out the door, I'm gone.

So, while one can only legally change their name via the court system, I got a passport with my preferred name. I now have a Nevada State driver's license with my preferred name. Does this -- having two picture ID's -- passport & driver's license -- with a name other than that on my birth certificate -- not constitute a legal name change?

Anyone who has had to deal with any DMV office -- or most any government employee -- knows each time they may have to see them that there will, inevitably, be some difficulty, such as an incorrectly filled in form or some missed typo requiring one live with the mistake. I have always just loved encountering the lazy & belligerent government employee who insists that something they've told me which makes no sense is policy. Who hasn't found this to happen?

So, now we know that getting round the system, by persistence & complete innocence, will eventually pay off. You want to change your name but don't like the idea of paying all the money required or getting some judge to allow you to do so? Use the Federal & State Governments to your own advantage.

I just hope no one will be so crass as to follow my steps for illegal purposes. Let's be nice, folks.

Above all, though, question everything.