Tiny Tyrant’s comment made me guffaw and cry uncle: okay, I’ll post!
I got there a half hour early in case I might get any argument as to whether I actually had an appointment, given their system’s mess-up, and with the traffic, who knew how long it would take me anyway; rush hour here starts at 3:00 and I was scheduled for 3:25. (That muffled sound you just heard was everybody in Vermont patting themselves on the back that they don’t live here, with their thick mittens on their hands and their lined overcoats drawn tightly around.)
It was quite crowded. I plunked down on the floor while in the first line–I don’t do standing for long stretches very well, and it seemed at first as if this was going to be a very long one. But it got going in good time. As soon as I got out of that line, a man offered me his chair, which was very sweet of him, but he didn’t see that there was an empty one behind him. I did. So I would say we both won: we both got to experience his kindness, he got thanked for it, and we each got a chair.
It did feel very slow. This is more due to the fact that I was obsessively clutching my F 143 number tightly in my hand so as not to have to start over and not get bumped to the non-appointment line–and that made it impossible to knit. I had my ticket to speed. But in all honesty, I was out ten minutes after my appointed time. They simply wanted a new picture is all; the clerk knew no particular reason why.