What's in a Name, Part II

So...I'm off on an establishment rant again...

Was thinking about my PA driver's license today, because a friend was talking about renewing her license. And I got ticked. Again.

When I married Hal, I had to get a new Social Security card. Chose to list my name as Connie Wagner Garlick, dropping my middle name (Marie). The Social Security Administration, seeing my birth certificate and marriage certificate, accepted this as my name. So did the Internal Revenue Service.

The state of Ohio gave me no trouble issuing a driver's license in the name of Connie Wagner Garlick, or Connie W. Garlick (I don't remember if they used middle name or initial).

The state of South Carolina - Connie Wagner Garlick.

The state of Nebraska - Connie Wagner Garlick.

You would THINK that this is a national trend, allowing someone to use the name that they have chosen upon their marriage.

Think again.

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania - the woman across the counter at the DMV - crossed out Wagner as my middle name and wrote Marie. I told her that was not my name. She insisted that it was. I told her that I had changed my name when I married. Showed her my Social Security Card again. She told me that using the name on the Social Security card "USED" to be legal. She insisted that my middle name is Marie, that she had to use the middle name on my birth certificate.

I went to my state representative's office shortly after getting a PA DL that does not match the name on my bank accounts, IRS info, SS card...and got a young woman behind a desk who called the DMV, would not let me talk to them, laughed with the person on the phone, and smugly told me that was the law. I told her it was a stupid law (I may have thrown in a non-preacherly word) and got up and left.

I still think it's a stupid law. Two entities of the federal government and three other states recognize me as who I choose to be. The sad thing is, I really like where we're living and don't want to move just so I can get my real name back on a driver's license. *sigh* I will just have to get our representative on one of his public appearances and get him to understand that this is a law that needs to be changed. Or just have a driver's license that matches none of my other information until I retire and move from PA.

Oh - and to top it off - the same woman HIT ON MY HUSBAND the next week, when he went to get his license. Thankfully, I was not in the building when it happened, or I'd be writing this from jail.

Home Again

Last week was the first time I attended the Creation Festival since 2006, when it was rained out. I have attended since 1986 (with the exception of one year I only attended set-up, and the last 3 years). It was good to be home.

Yes, good to be home after the festival - real showers and flush toilets.

But more than that, it was good to be back at Agape Farm. Good to see friends that I usually only see at the Fest. Good to camp with a great friend, who served as the "best chick" at my wedding. Good to be in the company of other Christians, regardless of denomination or theology. Good to breathe in the dust (remember, dust is our friend, our alternative being mud).

It was refreshing to unplug from technology, with the exception of a few cell phone calls to my husband, who stayed home to hold down the fort. I love you babe, and I missed you. And I thank you for letting me go on my pilgrimage without giving me a hard time about leaving - I know those whose spouses let them go, and others whose spouses do not let them leave their side. I appreciate the fact that you allow me to leave you for a week with the cat litter.

It was good to plug in to the messages that were out there. Not only the messages of the speakers or the musicians, but also the messages of those I encountered casually. Messages of hope, peace, God's hand in their lives. Messages that I needed to hear.

I am grateful for telephone, email and social media that allow me to keep in touch with the friends that I have made over 20 years. I am more grateful for the ability to attend the festival this year and reconnect with those people. I love you all.