Jason Knits

I stepped out of that “unhappy place” this morning. I felt happy. I felt free. A weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I could breathe. “The place” didn’t let me down this time. I looked up and saw a beautiful blue sky. I was enjoying it. I felt alive! So I took a picture of it with my camera phone.

Some of you have heard me saying that I wasn’t able to drive for a while. I didn’t explain why. Let’s see. Where do I begin… Well, it all started when the law began to require that the name on one’s driver’s license must match the one on the social security card. Well, it so happened that mine had my Chinese name on it. Everything else had the English name. Why? When I came to the States loooong time ago, my father’s lawyer applied for the SS card before I decided to use an English name. I never thought that I needed to make a name change on the SS card since I was able to pay taxes and get credit cards using it without any problem. Not until when the time came to renew my license.

Weeks after sending in my renewal I still had not received anything. Not a word. The check was cleared. But nothing came. I called them and they said that they would try processing it again. Few more weeks passed by and still no words. Not a letter. I called DMV again, and this time I was told that I needed to make a name change at Social Security. So the ordeal started. Long story short. I made two trips to the DMV and four trips to Social Security. Each time getting different information. I even paid the DMV one more time and took another written test for no apparent reason at all. Finally a lady at the SS office told me that I absolutely needed the certificate of naturalization to continue the process. I looked everywhere in the house without luck. My last hope was that it was in a box somewhere at my mother’s. Just my luck, my mother decided to have a long stay in Taiwan at the time. So I waited and she finally came home. I went over and BINGO! It was in a box of my stuff. I guess I thought I was OK with a passport and neglected the certificate. So speed forward. I got my name changed at SS office today!

For months I felt like I was under some dark clouds. It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t handle it. I practice mindfulness after all. But the situation took a lot of energy out of me. Plus, at the same time our company was going through major changes that left me with more responsibilities. But today the dark clouds disappeared. Today was great! I can drive again. Well, not yet. Soon. I will be able to go to places. Yarn store, the temple, S&B! And the best is that I feel that I am legally ME again!

Anyway, my recent “identity crisis” inspired me to do another Comic Life piece. Warning! Silly, tasteless comic follows. By now you should know that it is not about current immigration issue.