Have you heard about the Sydney passport office yet? It’s like Patty and Selma are behind the desk at the Springfield DMV and loving every minute of it!
This morning we’re sparing a thought for all those families who went ahead and bought overseas tickets and made travel plans before checking their six-year-old kid’s passport.
Lo and behold it had expired in December 2020! Each parent looks at the other wondering whose fault it might be.
No problem, you have a few weeks to spare and live in a society where COVID tests can be turned around in 24 minutes and new laws can be passed in seconds to protect its citizens.
Rush to Officeworks first thing in the morning for that $50 green tick passport photo and then skip over to your local Postoffice for a 45-minute wait in line and a $500 express passport renewal.
The lady behind the counter does warn that renewals are taking a little longer than expected but you should be fine. When are you travelling? Oh…
Over the next few days, you start to hear rumours about the Sydney passport office. Does this mean that people showing up in person are able to expedite their renewal faster than those who lodged an express renewal at the Newtown post office?
And just like the toilet paper warriors gone before you, you decide to head down to 26 Lee Street and make sure. If the wait at the post office didn’t kill you, the frozen queues wrapping around the Sydney passport office surely will.
Our sister city of Melbourne would appear to have started corrective measures around the bottleneck and sources indicate Sydney will soon follow.
How many people will actually miss out on their trip to the Maldives is still an unknown but the fact remains that government organisations regularly seem unfit and unable to respond to the immediate demands of mums and dads who just need to get away for a week or two. Get your shit together government!
