Friday 24 February 2012

Passport to …………..?

I am beginning to wonder if it is just me or if others are in the same boat because whenever the subject of passports comes up I feel I am almost the subject of scorn and derision. Is it so wrong not to have a passport or to not want to go abroad?

Am I really strange, do I have two heads, should I be taken out and shot? It is often the way I feel from the reactions of people who find it quite incredulous that I do not have a passport.

Here are my thoughts on the matter. Why do I want or need a passport as I have no desire to go abroad – there are many parts of Britain I have not seen or been to yet. Why do I want to pay what I believe to be an extortionate amount of money for a little book? Why should I need to attend an interview to prove that I am who I say I am having lived in this country for 57 years, paid large amounts of money into both income tax and national insurance, held a full driving licence for over 40 years and been register with DVLA as a car owner/tax payer for almost 40 years.

Why is it considered almost unnatural to not hold a passport – surely at the current time I have the right to choose and as for using it as a proof of indentity it is not a used friendly size to do this with.

I know I have just thought of the answer – I am turning into Victor Meldrew.