"Maybe I should just go live in a hut in the woods."

A couple of months ago my son had his wallet stolen from his gym locker at college.  It contained only about $5 in cash, but, of course, that was not the biggest loss.  He quickly notified me and I canceled our joint credit card.  Replacement cards came overnight and I sent him one the next day.  He got a new student ID that day. His bank did not have a branch in his college town, so he called to get a new debit/ATM card.  Unfortunately, he didn't realize that it would be sent to our old address, a place where we had not lived for over a year and from which mail was no longer forwarded.   Fortunately, he had his passport so our trip to Puerto Rico was unaffected and he was able to visit the bank on his way to the airport and change his address and get a new debit card.

The last item to replace was his driver's license. He had a NY license. Neither of us had seen a reason to change to an IL license when I moved.  He spent more time in New York than Illinois and who knew where he would land a year from now when he graduated.  He was able to apply online for a temporary NY license and a new permanent one would be mailed....again to the old, no longer living there, no mail forwarding address. Okay....time to get an Illinois license.  He is home for spring break in March, his temporary license is good until the end of March, we will get this all taken care of.

To get an IL license you need to prove your identity, your social security number, your signature, and...your residence.  He has a birth certificate, he has a social security card, he has a credit card.  To prove residency he needs government mail, a college bill, a utility/insurance/rent statement, a bank statement or any of a variety of other documents.  He has a college bill.  He has a brokerage account statement (joint with me), he has his filed state and federal tax returns.  He does not have enough. He cannot prove he lives here.

Bank account, a bank statement with his IL address would suffice. Given the problems with getting his new debit card we had considered opening up a Chase bank account anyway.  We go to the bank.  There he doesn't need to prove residency, but he does need to prove identity.  Major way to prove identity.... a DRIVER'S LICENSE.




He can't get a license because he can't prove his residency. One way to prove residency is to have a bank account, which he can't open because he can't prove his identity.

He is a man without a place.

That's when he said..."Maybe I should just go live in a hut in the woods."

(On a more serious note, this saga made me really think about the complications faced by those forced to move frequently, those who have trouble maintaining or securing documents, and those who daily struggle with establishing their place in our society.  Coincidentally, just a few days before this comedy, I heard a radio story about the problems released prisoners face obtaining state ID cards in Illinois.  The point was made that the state was convinced enough of their identity to incarcerate them, the least we could do was supply them with ID upon their release.)