I remember reading in some piece of Sci-Fi (I think a Gibson novel somewhere) where people were assigned a Social Identification Number at birth, and the dregs who fell through the cracks and weren’t assigned one were called SINLess.

Anyways, last year sometime while travelling, I lost an envelope.. containing my american and canadian birth certificates. I have notarized copies (for just this occasion).. but they are of no use if I have to apply for something like.. Say, a passport, just like the STUPID DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY is going to require. So last year (9 months ago) I applied for the canadian ones, and started the process to get the american ones. The canadian oens require a couple forms and money, but the american ones require a letter, a notarized affadavit, and some other hoops. So I finally got all my stuff notarized and sent out, and I just recieved my Canadian birth certificates, so now I’m a man with a country again.. Now I have to get my US ones back, and then passports for both countries.

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