So, I did what I have always been taught to do: I prayed. I asked God to help make the day go smoothly and that I would get things done quickly and completely and then I set out.
When I got to the State Department it was just after 8:00 and there was already a line, but it was short. I was in and out in about 15 minutes. I asked a security guard where the nearest copy shop was and he directed me to a bookstore but they were not open. I used the map app on my phone and walked to three other shops, all of which were out of business. Finally, just after 9:00am, I found a UPS store. The gentleman at the counter said, "I've seen this before, I know how to do it." Then he informed me that he would charge $1 per page because he was not allowed to remove the staples. If he removed the staples and re-stapled them then the Chinese embassy would reject the dossier because it would look as though it had been tampered with. Since he was the only game in town I begrudgingly agreed to pay the $1 per page. Then he said to come back in an hour.
It was 10:00 by the time I got my papers back. I had lost 1 hour 45 minutes and $84 getting the necessary copies of our dossier. But I kept my chin up, I needed to head to the embassy and get this done and, darn it, I was going to get it done that day!
I plugged "Chinese embassy" into my map app and drove to the address it provided. The internet failed me again but I didn't realize it until I parked 2 blocks away from the wrong building, walked around for 10 minutes, and had to ask someone for help. It turned out I had driven to the apartment building where they house the Chinese ambassadors.
So, I walked back to my car and drove another 15 minutes to the correct location. It was just after 11:00 when I took a number and waited to be helped. I will never forget my number, B585, because I stared at it for 3 long hours. As I sat there, my anxiety rose steadily. Autumn was staying at a friend's house and I had expected to be back by lunch time. My friend was so nice about it and said she could stay longer. I was worried about getting home in time for the older two to get home from school. Also, there was rush hour traffic to worry about.
As I was sitting there CNN was playing on the televisions in the embassy. It was right in front of me so I couldn't help but watch. They were reporting about the little boy who was taken by an alligator and alternating that with the Orlando shooting and speeches by the current presidential candidates. It was incredibly depressing.
Finally, at approximately 2:00 my number was up. I went up and gave the lady our dossier. She proceeded to shuffle through them and scrutinized each page. She found one page (not an original) that was not up to their standards, handed back the entire pile of papers and rejected my submission. I had to go make a new copy of that one page and return and take a new number.
The embassy is open until 5:00 so I decided I was not going home without getting this done. No way, no how. So I found a FedEx store two blocks away and redid that one page and headed back to the embassy. Little did I know, their business hours are until 5:00 but they stop handing out numbers at 2:30. It was 2:42 when I made it back. There was no way I could get it done that day.
I walked out into the bright sunlight of the afternoon and wanted to scream with frustration. Also, I was so starving that I was almost ready to eat my own arm. I called Keith and told him that I was going to grab a quick bite to eat and then head home. That wonderful man had picked up Autumn and was home waiting for Noah and Allison's school bus.
The nearest restaurant was Einsteins Bagels. As I was entering I lost my composure and started crying. This was not just a sniffle and a few tears, but full on sobbing, ugly, uncontrollable crying. I couldn't even pull myself together enough to order food so I found a table in the corner and put my head down on my arms.
After a few minutes, one of the employees came and sat next to me and put her arm around me. She asked me what was wrong and I told her I was having a bad day. She asked if I had eaten that day and I told her I hadn't since 6:00 that morning. She asked what I wanted and I said I didn't know, maybe just a plain bagel with cream cheese. She said no, that I needed a real meal and proceeded to make me a sandwich with chips and a drink. I offered to pay and she said, "no, it's free. I just want you to have a good day." She was right when she said that I would feel better after I had something to eat.
The kindness shown to me by these strangers helped to ease the frustration and emotional exhaustion of the day. That morning I had prayed that things would go smoothly, but they didn't. The Lord had a different plan. He used my bad day to create an opportunity for someone else to do good. It was truly a humbling experience.
As I went to my car Keith sent me this text. -------------------------->How blessed I am to be surrounded by people who help me to begin with the end in mind.
The next morning I went back to the embassy and our dossier was accepted.
Love this story, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThis story reminds me of why I stopped praying for patience. Things always got worse. Still I imagine the one page that needed to be changed would have wrecked your day no matter what. Yeah Kieth!
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