I’m just going to go ahead and say: my people are idiots.
So much trauma for one little thing. Many of you know that my mom and I were supposed to leave for Pakistan today. Boy – did that get real messy. And it was all so simple too – so simple to fix. All they had to do was send our passports back to us. Here’s my low-down show-down:
1) my father “forgot” to send a self-addressed envelope and photocopies of our old Pakistani passports when he sent in our applications for travel visas. Without the self-addressed envelope, they refused to mail the passport back to us in any way, shape, or form. And I emphasize “forgot” because he prepares applications and passport stuff for other people ALL the time – including my aunt who he told just a few weeks ago. The family suspects foul play on my dad’s part. I mean, since he knows the process SO well about this passport stuff – and does it constantly for other people – but when it comes to his own wife and daughter – “oops, I just happened to fuck up your trip.” As you can infer – we are quite infuriated with my father. This was just the first bad omen.
2) The guy that handles our passports at the Pakistan Consulate in Houston calls my father’s house on May 3rd, and leaves a message saying, “there are no photocopies of their Pakistani passports and there is no self-addressed envelope. Please send those ASAP and we will send it back to you.” Hmm, sounds ok right? Only problem is, my father was in Pakistan (oh yeah, he just happens to take a surprise trip to Pakistan for himself – I really believe to spite the fact that me and my mom had planned on going.) He comes back on May 18, and calls my mom and tells her that the Consulate people need this stuff. I gather all that shit up and mail it out on the 19th – and INCLUDE a FedEx Airbill envelope charged to my credit card for OVERNIGHT DELIVERY. It reached them on the 21st – and our flight is scheduled to leave today – the 31st. plenty of time to throw that shit into the envelope I had provided. Plenty of time to mail it out.
3) Couple a days go by with no response and I send them a few faxes through the days (bugging Aspen many a time to help me send them). The Consul General himself calls me and says, “don’t worry. You will receive them in time.” Oh guess what? I don’t think that guy handles anything at all. He’s just the Consul General. He’s just the Pakistani yes-man.
4) A few more days pass and only 3 days left until we leave. I send an email to the Consul General asking what’s up. He says, “call me now for yor faree reedin’.”
5) The day before we are scheduled to leave, I finally talk to the guy who’s handling our passports and he says, “I never received your FedEx envelope. I’ll send it right now.” The dumbass sends it through regular mail through the regular post office. It will take 3-5 business days to reach us.

So all in all – our flight plans were fucked. Both my parents were jumping down my throat yesterday as in – Sarah – why aren’t you handling this? Make them send us the damn passports already! Oh I tried mom and dad. I fucking tried. Through hours of busy signals and talking to complete dumbasses – my only conclusion was to pay the penalty for changing flight dates. And even THAT is going to be a hassle – because a whole rush of people are flying overseas right now. I swear – that was one of the most horrible mornings ever. The complete and utter frustration and emotional scarring that my parents put me through almost makes me wanna get engaged and move-in with an asshole again. Oh yeah, that whole getting engaged thing didn’t solve anything. I found that relationships actually made my personal problems worse. Neat huh?

So anyways – I’m pretty calmed down about it now. My mom and I decided that we weren’t meant to leave today. All part of the plan you know? And plus I got to take my mind off of it by working on a Less Smokin’ Less Croakin’ tshirt design for a friend. And I got to talk to my mital, and be in a good environment with other creative people.
So Yeah. Life’s a bitch. Deal with it.