Mark’s Corner – U.S. State Department can kiss my @$$!
According to my original itinerary, I should have been in Lima, Peru eight days ago.
As many of you know, my passport was stolen and I had to replace it.
According to my newest plane tickets, I should have been in Lima, Peru five minutes ago.
As you are about to find out, our U.S. State Department is totally inept at providing even the most basic functions for which they are chartered.
I have sent the following e-mail to U.S. Secretary of State Condoeezza Rice:
Dear Ms. Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State:
As a concerned U.S. citizen, I would like to inform you of the incompetence that exists at your US Consulate in Quito, Ecuador. My U.S. Passport was stolen from me on a trolley on my way to the airport in Quito. After filling out all the necessary forms, I was told by the staff at the US Consulate that my new passport would be ready at 1:30 in the afternoon, Monday Oct. 8th. After asking the lady twice more for the exact date and time (despite hearing her correctly the first time), I purchased plane tickets to Lima, Peru (at a considerable cost) for Monday at 6 pm. As it turns out I was correct in my questioning of your employee as the US Consulate was not open on Monday Oct. 8th in observance of Columbus Day holiday. Due to her ineptitude, I now must pay to change my airline tickets, must find lodging for yet another night and I still have no idea when I can finally leave this country!
In our great country even the lowliest pizza restaurant has an “on-time or free” guarantee; our government should hold itself to a similar standard. Not wanting to put additional strain on a U.S. budget that is already totally out of control; your department should either reimburse me for the passport that did not show up on time (the free pizza) or cover my costs while waiting for my passport, which ever is least. I have enclosed an itemized list of the expenses I have endured since your department had promised my passport. It is currently cheaper to reimburse these expenses, but if time continues to pass, you might be better off reimbursing the cost of the passport.
I will accept payment in cash, check from the U.S. Treasury, or if it will expedite things, you may make your payment directly on my website at: www.buybradabeer.com
Your concerned citizen,
- Mark Leonhardt
P.S. How is that peace in the Middle East coming along?
Budget hotel, Quito Ecuador $10.00 Airline ticket replacement fees $39.20 4 Beers to pacify my words for this e-mail $08.00 TOTAL $57.20
One last thought as I fume over this whole situation, don’t you find it a little bit ironic that even the Ecuadorian staff at the U.S. Embassy and Consulate are observing Columbus Day? Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t this “holiday” mark the day which started the complete and utter destruction of your historic society? Was it not the European explorers, particularly the Spanish, who wiped out thousands of years of South American culture (not to mention a massive percentage of the population through war and disease)? If my observations over the last few months are correct, the rightful owners of this beautiful land are still feeling the effects of this “holiday” through the racism, prejudice, and socioeconomic oppression that European explorers began instilling way back in 1492. Hope you enjoyed your day off…
October 9th, 2007
