I wish I could be normal

This afternoon, I visited the Manhattan Social Security Card Center for the second time trying to my card. Before going there, I doubled check with my school’s International Student Office and human resources people to make sure I have everything I need.

When it was my turn, I went to a counter right next to the waiting area, and I was happy I got the Hispanic-looking lady because she was very polite and nice to the last guy.

Before I could get a word in for why I was there, she looked at me impatiently and asked: “do you EVEN have an appointment?”

I said: “ Yes, I have an appointment at 11:15.”

“Give me all your documents” she then said.

At this point, she had no idea what I was there for. The Social Security Card Center handles many services, and each requires different documents. Getting a new card is just one of the businesses they do.

I was pulling all my documents from my backpack and putting them in the tiny window at the bottom of the glass wall. She grabbed a couple of the documents and immediately started yelling: “ WE NEED YOUR PASSPORTS AND I-20, OTHERWISE WE CAN’T DO ANYTHING!”.

So I said: “One second, I have them here.”

I was getting a feeling that this lady was a little unusual, but nothing had crossed my mind yet.

After quickly skimming through a document, she said, “This is a copy, not an original.”

I was very confused because I brought exactly what the school gave me.

She then went on to say, “The signatures do not look handwritten, so this is a COPY, and it’s not gonna work.”

I argued that these are all original documents directly given to me from my school administration office.

She then insisted: “No, they are not. They are copies, COPIES.”

Before I could explain more, she went on to educate me what’s the difference between a copy and an original document. As she continues, she was getting more and more condescending. She even started teaching me that this is a federal building, and we require ORIGINAL documents.

I thought to myself, maybe she is right, and I should just stand there and listen. Perhaps she will come to senses and let me pass.

So after she finished imparting her knowledge to me, she went inside the office and told me that I would have my letter in a bit. For a second there, I thought I passed and I was quite thrilled.

Then 5 minutes passed, she came back and handed me a letter that made me completely lose my temper.

In the letter, printed out in colossal font:

Please contact us when:

You can give us the document(s) we need.

I have been studying in the US for nearly 5 years and on track to get my master’s degree. I’ve worked as a university tour guide, and acted in several theatre shows during my senior year while no one ever questioned my ability to speak English fluently. But that lady didn’t even give me a chance to talk.

I went through US Immigration, graduated from an American college, and received a scholarship for my graduate degree, yet I look too stupid to understand English.

In her defense, I am an Asian male wearing glass and had very casual clothing on. I could definitely be an FoB, someone who recently came to the US from an Asian country.

It’s totally normal for a lot of international students to have difficulties communicating their thoughts when they first arrived. But does this really give her the right to treat any Asian wearing glasses with a foreign passport in such a derogatory and disrespectful manner?

And I wonder if this could ever happen to someone with certain superior skin color.