Card-Carrying Member

Today E. and I got an envelope from the Office of the Secretary of State. How exciting! How charming! The certificate looks like they bought a bunch at Office Depot. How can I capture the glossy feel of the CARRYING CARD, with its underwater blue shimmer and REGISTRATION NUMBER
printed on the front?

This is not being married.

This is not at all like being married.

I should know, because I am married to E. in Canada.

This feels like we're being watched. This feels creepy and Orwellian.

Best of all is the sentence in the little form letter (printed wrong way around on the page):
"The Office of the Secretary of State does not have authority to enforce any of these rights."

Basically, this means nothing.

And what an ugly contrast to our wedding in Vancouver, where strangers stopped us on the street to take our picture, where we felt welcome and invited in strangers' homes.

Separate but equal. Laminated cards. They're laughing at us but what we're feeling is a lot more serious.

Comments

This comment has been removed by the author.
Also, it weirds me out that it's the "corporations" office of the secretary of state that's handling these. (Sorry--error and I had to repost this!)