242

Social security
Posted on October 6, 2015 by David M Willis

242 thoughts on “Social security”

  1. Nightsbridge

    SHOT THROUGH THE HEART AND YOU’RE TO BLAME

    But seriously it can’t be good for Dina’s confidence that the first person Becky thinks of is the girl who she has admitted she’s not entirely over, no matter how innocuous a thought it was.

    1. gkheyf

      a very reversed bit of ‘missing the subtext’ here

      1. Inkblot

        I just took it as Dina realizing that Joyce actually is the better call. (Doesn’t make Dina any less adorable in that fourth panel, though. Or less unhappy in the fifth!)

      2. Inkblot

        …or I’m talking past you and missed your point entirely, since I have a sinking feeling that I’m doing exactly that.

    2. Resident SnipeFish

      YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME

      This is true. I just wonder how big a deal this will be in future strips. Knowing Willis, a big one.

      1. Yet_One_More_Idiot

        Ooooooor Becky will get the hint in the very next panel and apologise to Dina for not getting the hint earlier. 🙂

        …shut up, I can hope. 😛

        1. Jordan

          I’ll hope with you, but I don’t think it’s likely.

    3. Adept Arcanist

      Come to think, what is it with Dina and being the rebound for people who aren’t over Joyce yet?

  2. liahansen

    shit shes applying for a job

    1. Doctor_Who

      I serious hope it for Galasso’s, but I really can’t see him asking for someone’s SSN. A list of combat disciplines, references from organizations like Hydra and Cobra, and a recording of their best evil laughter, yes, but not their SSN.

      1. Scoops

        Maybe Conquest wrote the application form, and Galasso just accepts that whoever she says is the new employee must be. He can’t be bothered to keep track of these things.

        1. Bagge

          Galasso: “Is my new subject deadly in a multitude of secret martial arts?”
          Becky: “Um…”
          Conny: “Of course she is, daddy!”
          Galasso: “THEN HIRE HER AND LET OUR ENEMIES RUE THIS DAY!!!!”

        2. Doctor_Who

          Galasso: Have you toppled any major governments?

          Becky: Um, well people like me have been blamed for destroying the institution of marriage.

          Galasso: Excellent! First marriage, then the WORLD!

        3. Bagge

          Galasso: Do you have any enemies?

          Becky: My butthead father tries to destroy my life.

          Galasso: AN ARCH-ENEMY! THIS IS A GLORIOUS DAY INDEED!

          Becky: But I got saved by this most crafty dinosaur chick (who totally is my girlfriend)

          Galasso: AN ALLY WITH A DINOSAUR WARLORD. THE ARMY OF GALASSO IS NOW UNSTOPPABLE. MOAHAHAHAHAHA…..

          Becky: Um…

          Conny: Let’s leave him alone for a while. Come, I will show you the ropes.

        4. Bagge

          Galasso: I have researched this “lesbian” thing. It turns out our new subject can CONTROL TORNADOES. MOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

        5. Someone

          Never presume a man does not have lesbians at his disposal.

        6. barefootbiker

          Now I’m kind of sad that he never took advantage of these powers in Shortpacked! (at least as far as I can remember)

        7. Architex

          This whole procession was fantastic

        8. Anybody's

          Men do not have lesbians at their disposal, Someone. That’s the whole damn point of being a lesbian.

        9. Someone

          Anybody do you question my lesbian army? who I have convinced to join me by paying them legally and having good health benefits!

        10. saki

          I love this entire thread. X’D

        11. Roborat

          And then actually shows her some ropes.

        12. LiveWire

          Galasso: Have you toppled any major governments?

          Becky: Um, my parents don’t believe in government…? So I don’t know whether I have a Soc.Sec.Number…?

          Galasso: Eh, it’s a start… I mean, YEEEESSSS, my minion!

        13. GMan003

          All of Earth shall one day do Galasso’s bidding. What matter the order of their acquiescence?

      2. Rosicrucian

        Er… you need a social security number if you’re going to be paying into payroll taxes.

        Because you’d be paying into… y’know, Social Security.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          Galasso cares not for such things.
          Hopefully Connie and her mom could sort it out.

        2. Kryss LaBryn

          Yeah, our kids each got one at birth so they could enroll in an RESP (which requires one). They even included the form for a SIN in the little packet of things they give you at the hospital when the baby is born, so I can’t imagine her not having one somewhere, although perhaps her parents still have it.

          That said, I only got mine when I was 16 and applying for my first job. Mind you, because I was a thinking being when I got it I was fully aware of it and took it with me to college. Heck, pretty sure it used to live in my purse back when (now it’s in the safe, of course).

          In Canada I’m pretty sure you can call up Revenue Canada and see if you’ve already got one in your name and order a replacement if needed (or apply if you don’t) so I imagine her next call ought to be to the IRS to find out that info. I mean, she’s 18, right? No need to involve parents at all.

        3. Badtux

          It’s actually rather involved now, you need to provide some proof that you are the person who belongs to the SSN, such as a government-issued photo ID and an original copy of your birth certificate — which Becky most certainly does not have. And getting one without ID generally requires getting the assistance of a local legal aid society and suing the state in a court of law, a process which takes two to four months and requires a judge to question witnesses who can attest to the identity of the person. It’s a major problem for the homeless, who often have their id stolen by thieves or thrown away by cops who arrest them and as a result lose all access to homeless shelters, food stamps, and other services for the poor.

        4. David

          Really? You need ID for a homeless shelter? 🙁

        5. Yet Another Laura H.

          Some of them, yes. Especially the ones that are dedicated to helping people become not-homeless— there’s kind of a vested interest in screening out those who might further injure, prey upon, or traumatize the residents or staff.

        6. Eolirin

          Best part of all this? Depending on the state you’re in, you may, for all practical purposes, need that little SSN card to *get* the photo id that you need to get the SSN card.

        7. Freemage

          Actually, I’m wondering if Becky’s Butthead Dad is from some sect that opposes SS#s as a religious claim. (It was one of the earlier forms of the “Mark of the Beast” hysteria that crops up every time there’s a new nearly universal identifier.) There are (sometimes arduous) workarounds, but it’s quite possible that Becky’s been left ignorant of them.

        8. No Name

          Well, the only to find out is whether Willis has one. Joyce is autobiographical, and Joyce and Becky grew up together, so that particular aspect should apply to all three of them here.

        9. buckybone

          He almost definitely has one now…but that doesn’t mean that he had one at birth.

    2. Scoops

      90% odds she ends up with a job at Galasso’s Pizza.

      I expect I’m not the first person to guess that?

      1. Scoops

        I’m not even the first person today, by one minute. 🙂

  3. AgentKeen

    Awwwwwwwww 🙁

  4. Dreadhawk177

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O1hM-k3aUY

  5. Bagge

    Don’t start with subtility at this point in your relationship, Dina. It is not your strong suit, and the direct approach has served you well so far.
    dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/04-walking-with-dina/misreading

    1. Grantimusmax

      Remember: Big frills! Lots of plumage!

      1. Bagge

        And it sure did attract a mate!

  6. Cerberus

    Oof, swing and a miss Becky, swing and a miss.

    1. gkheyf

      well, becky does bat for the other team

      1. Grantimusmax

        heyooo

    2. Freemage

      I fear that Becky woke up on the Dan side of the bed this morning.

  7. inqntrol

    Ouch,emotoinal hit.

  8. Doctor_Who

    A magically perfect…my God, Dina is the LEAST Manic Manic Pixie Dream Girl ever!

    She’s an…Even-Tempered Dinosaur Reality Girl!

    1. AgentKeen

      Dinosaur Reality meaning they better have feathers, dangit!

    2. Twilightomens

      Maaan, I wish I could find an Even-Tempered Dinosaur Reality Girl

    3. Schpoonman

      No no, she’s so perfect that it seems magical. Or you just really wanted to make the ETDRG joke.

  9. Stephen R. Bierce

    The Sign Says/Long haired freaky people/need not apply…

    1. fogel

      That’s signs for ya

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        Bustin’ up the scenery, breaking my mind…

        1. fogel

          Do this, don’t do that …

  10. Bagge

    That said, it is actually a pretty good idea to not make your relationship dependent on daily administration. If you need some time apart your first thought shouldn’t have to be “what about my job applications”.

    Not that many teenagers are likely to see it that way…

    1. Disloyal Subject

      And those that are aren’t likely to take it into consideration until it’s too late to change without awkwardness and potentially hurt feelings.

  11. Luzahn

    Nooo sad Dina. Becky what have you done.

    1. gkheyf

      hopeful and sad dina faces are cute, too. like how you sometimes have to make a puppy beg because, hey, we’re all evil!

      1. inqntrol

        I think that’s backwards. They are evil since they convince us to do anything for them only by showing their sad face and the puppy eyes.

    2. Freemage

      She Dan’ed, that’s what she did. She Dan’ed good and hard.

  12. Packy

    NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Becky, wake up and listen to what Dina is saying!

  13. Kei

    The lack of knowledge she has about her SSN at her age is disconcerting, and honestly has a somewhat insidious feeling. I’m guessing her father is the isolating sort of Christian.

    1. Bagge

      It’s pretty certain he is. He is also the isolating sort of PARENT. Welcome to the world, Becky. I know it’s a knew place for you.

      Fudge you, Ross.

    2. AHR

      partially that… but it’s also probably mostly innocent. I’m 22 and didn’t get my ss card in my own hands till last year. People who don’t apply for jobs don’t really need it much.

      1. Kat

        I’m just sitting here being appalled, but then I remembered that I’m a military brat.

      2. RZ

        Really doubt it’s innocent, since identity abuse is a thing in homeschooling circles.

      3. begbert

        I wouldn’t read too much into this one – I too didn’t know my social security number until I was nineteen, purely because there was no need for me to.

        1. Benwhoski

          Not having the number memorized isn’t so shocking to me. Although I’d had to put mine on forms before then, I probably didn’t actually memorize mine until I went to college, because I needed it very frequently from the time I started applying to schools, to grant and loan forms, to housing agreements, and so on and so on…

          What does not come off as innocent is not knowing there is a card.

    3. Viktoria

      I had mine memorized at 16, but only bc I was filling out job applications at 16. The only thing she’d have done that asks for it is college apps, and there’s legitimate reason for your parents to fill out a good chunk of those.

    4. AY

      I had to learn mine at 12, needed it for my hunting license. I’m glad I learned it at such an early age, though!

      1. Angierhafai

        I knew mine from the age of 10. My military dependent I.D. had both mine and my father’s. Those I.D. cards don’t have either now though. It was helpful for college apps and I never actually had seen my SSN card until I was a month out from 20 when I got my first job.

        It’s somewhere at home, lost after I gave it back to my mother to be put in the lock-box and it got misplaced. Had to use my birth certificate to prove my identity when I went back on the payroll this fall. As an RA I have to be a full time student and since I wasn’t taking classes over the summer, I was removed from the payroll so had to do the paperwork again. I should get a replacement card…

      2. Inspector Hound

        Hmm, 18 for me, because I had to start using it when filling out SATs and related college application tests. I’m guessing that’s not a requirement now, since I’d have thought it’d have been brought up before.

    5. Lord Stoneheart

      He certainly is. Remember Becky doesn’t have a phone because he wouldn’t allow it.

      I memorized my SSN at 16 for college app reasons, but I was encouraged to memorize it by my parents. (They told me about the many many things I would need it for). I’m not surprised that Ross didn’t do that.

    6. Dean

      I’ve read that some fundamentalist Christians equate the Social Security Number with the Mark of the Beast, from Revelations. That may have something to do with Toedad’s actions as well.

      1. DarkoNeko

        Whaaat.

        1. hof1991

          http://themarkofthebeast.com/42us666.shtml

          Either SSN or bar codes. Bar codes have hidden numbers, you know, the spaces between the numbers. That’s what Satan will use to round you up.

        2. DarkoNeko

          they’re not hidden at all, it’s like, the basis of a bar code ^^;

        3. MichaelHaneline

          Wow, I had not heard of the particular level of cray cray yet

      2. CRtwenty

        He needed to use her SS number to fill out her college application, so at least she has one. So he’s not at the worst level of craziness yet. The main problem is he’s likely holding her documents hostage so she won’t be able to use um. It’s a fairly common tactic among certain groups to maintain control of their kids. I don’t think Becky’s aware of how bad the situation is yet though.

        1. Freemage

          Actually, you don’t need the SSN for college apps. You just say you don’t use it for religious reasons. It’s actually quite possible that Becky doesn’t even HAVE an SSN.

    7. Lurlock

      See, when I was in high school and college, there were laws that specifically forbid employers from requiring your SSN. You could still give it to them, but you could use an alternate ID instead. Now you not only have to give them your SSN, but you have to show them the actual original government-printed card. Not a photocopy or fax of it, but the actual card. A card which explicitly says “Do not carry this card on your person”, so you can’t keep it in your wallet, which begs the question: “Why is it in card form then?” Just makes it easier to lose. And then it takes hours at the SS office and weeks of waiting to issue a new one, even though I could just give them the number since I’ve it memorized for years… (Not bitter at all, why do you ask?)

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        Whaaaat? I mean, in Canada, they want it (and have for as long as I’ve been working, which is mid-Eighties), but never ever ONCE have I ever been asked to produce the actual card. They want the number so they can do the tax deductions properly (seriously, how are they supposed to credit the time/money you put into EI and Old Age Pension etc, not to mention the money they also pay into both on your behalf, without it?), and it’s a warning sign if they don’t ask for it; but who cares about the damned card? Give them the number; they fill out the paperwork and send it in, and if the number isn’t valid or comes back for a different name they’ll sort it out then.

        –It’s a card because back in the day you were supposed to keep it on you, but then they realized that between that and your driver’s license, if you lost your wallet, your identity was, like, guaranteed to be stolen. Too easy. So when people started to become more aware of identity theft (and/or it became more common) they started to say “DON’T keep it in your wallet” around, what, twenty years ago or so? But they kept it as a card because why pay to change the format?

        1. WolfLann

          True that, i never needed the actual card. I just memorized the number on it and that is all they usually ask when you fill out employment forms or government paperwork. Anyway my card broke off many years ago due to have become brittle over the years and never got around to replace it.

    8. RZ

      Yeah. I learned about Identity Abuse in the last year. Have you done any reading on the https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/ site? They dig deeper into homeschool abuse there. Many young women aren’t allowed to have their identifying documents if they leave home under non parentally approved circumstances. It traps them in a life they don’t choose, because how can you prove who you are?

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        In BC at least, you then get a letter from a doctor or a priest who has known you for at least two years, and they will accept that in order to get you the replacement documents. Failing that, you go to your local Ombudsman and explain, and they get it sorted out.

        My husband lost his wallet with 100% of his ID in it one time, didn’t have his birth certificate, wasn’t religious, and was generally healthy so he didn’t have a regular doctor. They also would have accepted a statement from a cop but we didn’t know any cops, either.

        Also he didn’t know what his SIN number was (and still doesn’t; luckily I have it memorized). It was a fun run-around trying to get his ID replaced (“Can’t give you your new SIN card without a birth certificate and driver’s license. Can’t get the DL with out the SIN and BC. Can’t get the BC without the SIN and DL…” ><) but the Ombudsman was able to get it sorted out for us.

        So there are ways around it, but you probably need to talk to, like, I dunno if you have Ombudsmen in the States so maybe your local MP or MLA equivalent? Senator? Regional representative at the state level, whatever those are called? Anyways, it can be done, but it’s time-consuming and frustrating and will probably involve a notary taking sworn statements.

        1. No Name

          A quick recap of American Politics:
          There are two (federal level) Senators per state and they both represent the whole state individually and together.
          There is some number (at least one) of (federal level) Representatives or “Congresspeople” (despite “Congress” referring to both the Senate and the House of Representatives together) and each represents a particular district within the state.
          On the state level, most states follow the federal example, changing “state” for “region” or some other term and often having only one state senator per region. The positions might also have different names; for example, in Virginia we have “Senators” and “Delegates” (a hold over from our pre-Revolutionary government).
          Also important: “state senator” never refers to the two Senators per state at the Federal level; only the positions within the state.

        2. thejeff

          If you’re on the run from your abusive controlling father and his church, contacting your priest or your doctor is probably a really bad idea. In fact, Joyce is probably the only trustable person who’s known Becky more than a week.
          Which is actually a better situation than a lot of runaway LGBT youth face. Plus Becky’s 18, which helps a lot.

          I honestly don’t know what the legal options are, which is why getting in touch with an LGBT support organization of some sort would be the first step. They do know. Because they’ve dealt with it before. But that’s less dramatic. 🙂

          Political officials at all levels do provide “constituent services”, probably much like the Ombudsman you’re talking about. Since they’re elected officials though, what they’re actually willing to do often depends on political considerations. I’d be very wary of contacting an Indiana state rep or senator or Congresscritter in Becky’s situation, without being very sure of their general stance on LGBT issues and preferably knowing they’d helped in similar cases in the past.
          Again, the local LGBTQ groups would know this.

        3. Viktoria

          …The local Congressperson is Robin DeSanto, who, while she is a Republican, also is known to be secretly not a fundamentalist nut, so she might actually be a good one to talk to.

    9. Siburyo

      I didn’t learn mine until I was 17, when I was applying for colleges… but I applied to 7 different colleges, so I had to put it down again and again. I’m assuming Becky’s dad only let her apply to Anderson.

    10. GhostWriterL

      This isn’t uncommon in ultra religious circles… The more you control what identifies your children as individual, the more you control your children’s lives in total. They can’t do anything if they don’t have their SSN, birth certificate, or even a state license… at least not without you knowing about it, since they’d have to get it from you by asking, or have to jump through difficult legal hoops and pay a ton of fees to rectify it.

      Good news is she can just make something up to put in the blanks, but she won’t get it recorded under her SSI. Someone else will reap the benefits of her labor… maybe. A lot of businesses don’t run background checks on workers who are just doing menial work like clearing tables and scrubbing toilets. They just want a number for their payroll/tax software.

      But if a business does run background and it comes up as not her, they’ll probably rescind their job offer or tell her she has X amount of time to get it corrected.

      She could go to a Social Security Administration office and have them reissue a card to her, or give her a new number (wouldn’t surprise me if Ross would do something like purposely fuck up her credit, since I’ve heard of some uber controlling parents doing that to make sure their kids can’t get on without them). They’d probably require finger and handprints, which I think your parents have to have done on you when they inform the government you’ve been born in order to benefit taxwise from your existence. That’s something that never changes, at least.

      If she knows the state and hospital she was born at, she can request her birth certificate by giving them her name and her parents’ names as well as the day she was born. Likely she knows THAT much about herself. Pretty sure even uber religious families celebrate birthdays… or some do.

      The IRS is another resource, but they’ll likely only tell someone how to get their identifying information if they have none of it, and tell that person how they will need to fill out their income taxes once they officially start working and living as an independent adult. They’re very vested in making sure you do that, but don’t care about anything else.

      So… Becky has options. They’re just going to either suck, take time, or both.

    11. Riku

      I didn’t know mine when I was her age. It’s not that uncommon, especially in religious houses

  14. Dean

    I know absolutely nothing about the American Social Security system- is it difficult to find out your Social Security number if you don’t have it?

    1. tim gueguen

      I would assume it is given that the government doesn’t want it used for identity theft purposes. Of course it’s possible Becky doesn’t have one in the first place.

      1. tim gueguen

        I had to replace my Canadian Social Insurance Number card a long time back, but I can’t remember what I did to do so. I think I had to bring along a copy of my birth certificate, and presumably the same kind of procedure would apply in the US. But it’s also a reasonable guess Becky doesn’t have hers, as it’s not the kind of thing you normally carry around with you.

      2. Viktoria

        She definitely has one, all citizens do and it would take a different kind of repressive right-wing nut than Toedad to hide her from the govt at birth. Plus, she was in college, and colleges always require one.

        1. No Name

          Actually, they only require it, at least in Virginia, if you apply for financial aid, so depending on how well off the McIntyres are, Anderson probably doesn’t have it.

        2. RZ

          If she was in a non accredited college and her mother gave birth to her at home she may not have one. There are enough cases where the parents don’t apply for a SSN or BC for their children in circumstances like that.

          I’m sure some of these non accredited Christian schools have found work arounds for that. A letter of recommendation from the pastor and just a form saying she is who she is perhaps? They don’t need to follow the same rules as an accredited school that gets funding from a government.

        3. thejeff

          Anderson is accredited, though. At least in the real world.

          Apparently has a pretty good reputation academically, too.

        4. RZ

          Well that’s good! I did almost end up going to a non accredited bible school for a year, but they didn’t ever try to pretend that they were anything other than a year long program that focused on the bible. They didn’t attempt to mimic an accredited school or anything. I’ve heard some bad things…

        5. Inspector Hound

          Of course, the simpler explanation is that Becky’s parents filled out the forms for her, so she never had to look at her SSN card.

          Heck, given the path her parents chose for her, I suspect immediately after marriage they’d give her SSN card and related information directly to her husband.

        6. No Name

          “Parent”, Inspector, “Parent”. Her mother’s dead.

        7. Freemage

          Actually, it’s not absolutely required–it’s just very difficult to deal with a lot of things if you don’t have one. The Amish have been fighting and winning a number of court battles on this front.

    2. CommunistCanada

      Your SS card is how you prove you’re you. And you can’t get a new card without proving you’re ‘You’.

      There’s a lot of hoops to jump through for people who don’t know what they’re dealing with.

      1. Angierhafai

        As someone who has lost my SSN card (well, it is at home but misplaced), I’ve looked into it and it is actually not that bad. You only need to have a proof of citizenship, age, and proof of identity. For the first, options are a birth certificate or passport. For the second, a birth certificate, religious records of birth made before age of 5, or hospital records of birth work. For the last, a driver’s liscense, state I.D. card, or passport work. For the last one, if none of those are available, then there are a few alternatives. A document can be used for 2 of the 3 but not for all 3, so 2 documents are required (there is no document on all 3 lists anyways). After collecting the two documents, you only need to fill out a form and then take it all to a social security office. Most decently sized cities have one, my college town does for example. Replacement SSN cards are free, you’re just limited to 10 your entire lifetime.

        So, Becky probably has none of the above. She still has options. Every state has a way to get a replacement birth certificate and being of age, she can do this herself. For most you can just mail in a request form (asks for identifying data, on Indiana’s form it looked like the hardest would be the hospital she was born in), pay a small fee by check (10 for Indiana), and they’ll mail a replacement. For the second document and last category, one alternative option is a school I.D. card which the college she was kicked out from (Anderson?) probably gave her one of. I doubt the SSN offices check current enrollment status so there she goes. She may have a state issued I.D. if her college required her to have one (whether she can drive or not) in which case even easier. Slowest part would be waiting for the replacement birth certificate.

        1. RZ

          What if she was born at home and her parents never recorded her birth with the government?

          I love that you’re looking at the solution though. Pretty awesome.

    3. gkheyf

      it’s the number that distinguishes each citizen from every other. if there were someone born at the same time as me with the same name and the same face, it would be the only thing distinguishing us.

      your ssn is basically your last line of defense for when you’ve lost every other form of id. it’s like forgetting the email that your password reset would send a link to

      1. No Name

        Yell, that and your fingerprints, dental and blood work (not blood type, the nitty-gritty details of blood typing that are usually overlooked in favor, say, DNA are a lot more complicated than ABO-Rh and very much like a fingerprint).

        1. gkheyf

          dental is years later, and fingerprint records aren’t as complete as they should be among those who haven’t been arrested (getting better), and i honestly didn’t know about the bloodwork. but, fair point. i over-stated it a touch

        2. No Name

          Don’t worry, not many people know about that last one. Partly because it’s so complicated and is only used as a last ditch effort, like, say, when there aren’t any fingerprints or tooth marks, and your suspects are identical twins. It takes a long time and to get through everything.

      2. Inspector Hound

        Mmm… there’s a lot of back-and-forth on that. The SSN was not meant to be a U.S. universal ID. Of course, it’s very handy for exactly that, so various state, federal, banking, and other organizations use(d) it for that purpose, which in turn raised push-back from people who don’t want it used for that.

        These are legitimate concerns by the way, not just bleatings from the tin-foil hat crowd. For a long while many states used the SSN as part of or all of the ID on their driver’s licenses, not taking into account the problems that would cause.

    4. GhostWriterL

      It’s pretty much required that you have one and routinely done shortly after you are born. It is your parents’ responsibility to do that, as they are still required to pay taxes. If they don’t, then they can’t claim you as a dependent entity, which… I don’t know why anyone would opt out of the government essentially lowering your taxes or giving you money for having a kid. Some religious sects might, but… they still have to pay private income taxes regardless of what they do.

      If you don’t have an SSN, then you can apply to get one, but it would require showing an original birth certificate, of which you can get from the state you were born in. Unless your birth was hidden away from the world and you never attended any public school or went to a doctor, chances are you will always have one. Even midwives are required to provide documentation of someone being born, or the parents are supposed to tell the state “Hey, we birthed a youngin!”.

      On the chance that she doesn’t have a birth certificate… I dunno. She’d probably need to go to the courts to sort that out and have one or an equivalent document issued. That would be a situation where she technically couldn’t be proven to be a citizen, but I doubt they’d deport someone. They’d probably just tell the state she was born in to issue one to her for the date she was born, and she could work from there to get an SSN and start living like a human rather than a head of livestock her dad would auction off to the highest bidder to be a grandchild factory.

      Considering Ross let Becky be friends with Joyce, I don’t think he’d go THAT far with isolating and confining her. Chances are she was born in a hospital and has a birth certificate, and he cared enough about tax benefits to get her an SSN. He just seems like the kind of asshole that would hoard all those documents away, not let her have them, force her to get her own, and maybe, just maybe, commit identity theft against her to purposely hurt and fuck up her life, or take out a huge loan to settle some secret gambling/drug/other debt he’s racked up with a loan shark.

  15. Plasma Mongoose

    I keep hearing bits about SS cards over there in the US but how important are they?

    1. C Baker

      VERY.

      You need your social security number to pay taxes, hence, you need it to get a job. Some doctors and schools and whatnot like people to use their social security numbers as identity – I always refuse to do this, though, and insist they give me their own number, because who the hell knows what their security is like? SS# plus name plus date of birth = identity theft.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        That sounds just a bit too much like putting all your eggs into one basket.

        1. Damned Scholar

          It’s exactly that. The SSN was explicitly not to be used as a form of identification outside of its own system, but it creeped outward until more and more things were using it.

        2. Disloyal Subject

          I’ve never heard of SSID being used as identification. It kinda defeats the whole purpose of it… who does this?
          I’m glad I was raised by a paranoid man to keep important data like that private.

        3. Deanatay

          There’s started to be trends against it. I think the government made a rule that financial institutions keep them a secret, and not use them for ID. I know Wells Fargo used to use SSN’s as the userID’s on their web site, but had to change that.

        4. fogel

          Yes. Now, however, things are going the other way. After a file containing SSN numbers of employees was exposed on line for 2 years (sic), place I work for got religion: only payroll is allowed to haVe SSNs; everyone else was supposed to expurgate them from paper records AND they got some software that hunts them in computers and we all had to run it on our machines, whether or not we believed that we had any stored. Some places ask for the last 4 digits, out of 9, of your SSN, but it’s been a few years since anyone has even asked for it for ID.

        5. Kryss LaBryn

          Rogers in Canada will still use either the last four digits of your SN, (SIN in Canada), of your driver’s license, or your credit card or bank account as secondary ID if you don’t want to give them your birth date. Not much we can do with only the last four numbers.

          Some people are really picky about giving their date of birth; it’s annoying because we won’t ask for it unless we already have it on file (because otherwise how would we know if it’s right?), which means they already gave it to us when they signed up. I one told a lady, hey, if you don’t want to give us that info because of the possibility of identity theft, and you don’t want to give us the other info either, just–we don’t check what your DOB is against your ID or anything; we just go with whatever you give us, so we’ve got no way to tell if you’re making it up. Just don’t forget what you told us it was! 😀

    2. Zodo

      In the US, it was initially set up as a means to access your government funded retirement supplement. However, the Social Security number has become much more than that. It’s necessary to apply to college, and is used to access health information, as well as to apply for loans and credit cards. This is why it’s a big deal when they get stolen, because they can be used to get credit cards in your name without your knowledge.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        The nearest thing we have is out Tax-File Number but is rarely ever used outside taxation.

      2. fogel

        IF you haven’t put a block on thru the Big 3 credit bureaus, saying no one should open credit in your name without contacting you. Not fool proof, but a line of defense — one which few people activate.

      3. Tenn

        This SSN system sounds both needlessly complicated and not nearly advanced enough.

        I was assigned my universal ID number at birth. The notion of not knowing it is completely foreign to me. And getting it “stolen” is barely even a thing. Someone trying to use it to get a credit card sent to themselves, while getting the bills sent to me — I don’t even think the credit card companies would allow that. And if they did, it would be pretty easy to get it sorted out.

    3. Kelly

      Very. Well, the number more than the card itself in most cases. They serve two conflicting purposes, they are one of the strongest IDs, and also supposed to be a strong secret that only you know.

      You either need a SSN or having one vastly simplifies a lot of things – taxes, opening any kind of bank account or credit card, renting or buying housing, buying a car, etc. And applying for a job.

      1. fogel

        “…only you know” True, but ridiculous, since if you actually use the thing, there are LOTS of individuals who have access to it: bank loan officers, tax preparers, etc, etc, etc. AND it’s in digital databases for legit purposes, so it’s only as secret as those are secure — and right now it’s probably only a matter of time until some database with your SSN is hacked/stolen.

    4. showler

      I’ve heard they are the embodiment of the number the devil is supposed to use to control you or something?

      1. Clif

        That’s true. The devil is making me type this. If only I had refused to apply for a SSN.

        1. Amazi-Stool

          Perfect Gravatar for this comment!

          And now we know the mystery of Mary’s wristband:

          She has tattooed her SSN there!

    5. GhostWriterL

      SSN card isn’t absolutely necessary, but it lowers difficulty in rather mundane tasks by at least 95%. You use it to ID yourself when getting a license, a bank account, a credit card, submitting to a background check for a job, paying taxes, applying for loans, buying a car, getting insurance, going to school, etc…

      There are alternative IDs but they’re not universally accepted and some places don’t know what to do with them.

      It’s not unusual for kids to never know their SSN until they’re well into their teens when they start looking for summer jobs, and even then it wasn’t widely necessary until just in the past like… 5-10 years. If you’re under 18 and looking to work, you had to get your school’s permission as well as your parents’, which the permission slips essentially counted as your identifying documents. Nowadays it’s different and even 16 year olds are having background checks done for even the most simple of minimum wage jobs.

      Still, it’s pretty unusual that someone Becky’s age wouldn’t have their SSN memorized, or even know what that is, but she and Joyce have been sheltered and told that their job will ultimately be to get married and become mothers who will raise their children, clean the house, and cook food while their husband goes out and earns all the money they’ll need. I’d wager Joyce doesn’t know her SSN either, but unlike Ross, her parents would probably give it to her if she told them she needed it for something.

  16. Mr. Random

    That is a very nice house bubble.

  17. lime sheep

    my friend doesnt have her social security card either
    or her birth certificate
    or any form of idea

    let me tell you it is a mess to get any of those without having the others

    1. lime sheep

      *ID

      1. fogel

        Sorry, The Law of the Conservation of Comedy requires that someone convert the straight line which you posted into a joke, no offense intended:

        Does your friend have a clue? :-0

        1. electromagneticDestroyosaur

          It’s hard to get anything at all without a clue.

        2. lime sheep

          she doesnt have that either because her parents are shitholes and shes not really capable of taking care of herself right now

          i ruined your bad joke

        3. Amazi-Stool

          But the text on the SSN-card explicitly forbids to use for identification!

          Is your “clue” accompanied with a similar warning?

        4. lime sheep

          i dont even understand what youre trying to say

        5. fogel

          Wow.

        6. fogel

          That is, I was playing off of your typo — idea for ID — not your friends situation, which sounds way worse than I appreciated from your first post, and I see that I need to be more judicious about acting according to the Law of the Conservation of Comedy. So, apologies for my bad joke AND I hope that things get better for your friend.

    2. C Baker

      It’s fucking hard to get an ID unless you happen to have umpteen points of identification, all of which are impossible to get without an ID.

      1. Bagge

        And the very first step would be to have a parent vouch for you. Thanks for nothing, ToeDad

        1. Kryss LaBryn

          In Canada you can also get a doctor, pastor, or cop to vouch instead. Or you can just explain your situation to your Ombudsman and they can help get it sorted out. Went through that scenario when my husband, who didn’t have a copy of his birth certificate, and didn’t know his SIN, lost his wallet. The SIN card was in it.

        2. Clif

          In Texas you go to the county where you were born and pay for a copy of your birth certificate. In most cases you can do the same thing at your local court house. From there you go to the Drivers License people and get a Texas photo ID. And then you are prepared to talk to the Social Security people. If you were born outside of Texas it can get more complicated. I had a friend born outside Texas on a military base who lost her birth certificate and never was a able to replace it.

          If you happen to be an illegal alien then you find someone your age and sex whose dead and pay for a copy of their birth certificate, but we don’t talk about that.

        3. Clif

          Who’s dead. Grumble grumble.

        4. Amazi-Stool

          Is it a sin to not know your SIN?

      2. Jacknoir

        of course you need ID in order to get ID, it’s simple bureaucracy 101.

      3. GhostWriterL

        Birth certificate might be easiest to get, but you’d have to request it from the state and possibly the hospital you were born at (if it’s still operating and has those records available). You’d have to give a finger and/or handprint and it would have to be matched with your name and birthdate, which would take who knows how long to complete.

        1. thejeff

          If she still has her School ID from Anderson, she could use that to get a copy of her birth certificate. With that, she can get her SS card.
          Actually, she can probably get it with just the school id, assuming one’s already been issued.

          The School ID needs to be current, but I assume they just check the date, rather than actually checking with the school to be sure you’re still enrolled.

          Of course, that assumes she still has the ID, but I doubt anyone thought of demanding it back before she ran.

  18. dailybrad

    I hope she gets a job at Galazzo’s. If someone is going to overlook a lot of oddities on her application, it’d be her.

    By the way, this? Her not having access to her own Social Security number? That’s what people who are sympathetic to Becky’s dad are missing, outside of the myriad other reasons that’s creepy. Becky isn’t her own person when she’s part of his sphere of influence.

    1. Bagge

      Galasso interview – question 1. What is best in life?

      1. Dean

        “Umm…destroy your enemy, something something lamentations of their women?”
        “CLOSE ENOUGH!”

        1. fogel

          (“What Conan said.”)

        2. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          No, it’s “hot water, good dentistry and soft lavatory paper.”

        3. Clif

          Humor, romance and lots and lots of violent action. Er, we are talking books and comics aren’t we?

    2. Grantimusmax

      Agreed. She really is out on her own. Peeps need to wake up the fact that she’s 1 step away from either the sidewalk, jail, or a re-education camp.

    3. random832

      Is it possible that she doesn’t even have one at all?

      1. Leorale

        She probably would have needed one to get into college.

        1. electromagneticDestroyosaur

          My money’s on Anderson being sufficiently crazy that they might not look for that.

        2. No Name

          Actually, the Virginia college bracket, at least, only requires it if you apply for financial aid, probably because the financial aid bureaus (government or otherwise) require it.

        3. Clif

          It’s possible. Not probable, but possible.

    4. Disloyal Subject

      Feeling sympathy for his desire to protect his daughter has little to do with his disturbingly controlling methods and his misguided ideas of what constitutes a threat to protect her from.
      It’s very easy for young folks to not know their SSID. If they never memorized it, or haven’t used it in so long that they’ve forgotten it, then they’re dependent on parents to refresh their memory, and not all parents are dependable. An abusive chucklefuck like Ross is definitely not someone Becky can count on.

  19. Grantimusmax

    All’s I gots ta say ta Becky: Make sure you keep track of those number and that they match up on the documents you write it on, for you know, legal reasons. (Is it sad that the first thing I thought of was “financial fraud” when it comes to this kind of situation?)

  20. syd

    Oh look there’s a new poll and surprise, it’s relevant to this strip

    1. Lord Stoneheart

      It’s been there for a couple of days now. It’s okay. I’ve been feeling dread since this chapter started.

    2. DarkoNeko

      Oh, thanks for mentionning that.

  21. detective boomwolf

    Tad gummit Becky, you were standing right next to the target and you still missed.

  22. Arkantos

    Aw.

  23. Mr. Mendo

    Swing and a miss, Bec’…

    1. Agemegos

      … no bases for you!

  24. Theo

    Can…can we see the house before it got bubbled over?

    1. Kryss LaBryn

      Maybe they’ll walk by it again on the way home.

  25. DarkoNeko

    Hahaha, that was one faux pas 😀

  26. zebrathinker

    bless you, Becky. I didn’t know any of that information for FAR too long.

  27. Larkle

    … Dina said “didn’t”. I feel weird about her using contractions.

    1. Marie

      Yeah, while with Faye in QC it’s a sign of her loosening up, with Dina it seems sort of the opposite.

  28. J42

    We were fools to emotionally invest in this ship – IT WAS STRUCTURALLY UNSOUND FROM THE BEGINNING! TO THE LIFEBOATS! Women and dinosaurs first.

  29. DragonTrainer

    She may have a chance of getting her SSN if she logs into her old college account and get a T4A (or whatever the US equivalent of it is). Either that or she’ll have to go back to her old college campus and hope someone there will help her out. If that fails… well… maybe if she knew someone who could hack into her old college’s student database… maybe someone from the Comp Sci department? :p

    1. Someone

      Enter Danny

      1. Disloyal Subject

        If he keeps being helpful to people in ways that conflict with Amazi-girl’s values of hating Sal and following rules, I don’t know what’ll happen.
        But I do want to find out.

        1. BenRG

          Point of order – Amazi-Girl doesn’t hate Sal. She’s terrified of Sal.

        2. fogel

          Well, we often hate what terrifies us. Vice verse too, probably. (At least here in the US.)

        3. John

          Amber is terrified of Sal. Amazi-Girl wants to prove that she isn’t.

        4. inqntrol

          She tried it with her fists.It worked for Blaine,for Sal on the other hand..

        5. Yet Another Laura H.

          I think she hates herself, myself, for not doing something that would gain her father’s approval instead of his scorn and emotional abuse. Unfortunately, since part of the definition of abuse is that it comes more from the emotional state of the abuser than anything the victim does, she might be a bit off-target in her hatred…

          But you knew that.

  30. Mark

    I expect that most commenters here are you while I am middle aged so I probably see things differently. I can appreciate Sal’s feelings about therapists, especially court mandated ones, however several characters in this strip really would do well to at least try to get some help. Becky is technically homeless at this point and there are agencies that specifically deal with gay homeless teens. http://nationalhomeless.org/issues/lgbt/
    It’s not good to try to force somebody to get help but at least tell them that it is available.

  31. Lan Mikoto

    Oh man ToeDad’s fucked poor Beckers over with this. In my area at a certain age you NEED your SS to even get a library card. Like it’s not until you’re in your thirties or so but it fucked with my dad since he’s from California and his parents didn’t give him his when he enrolled into the military.

  32. Idontcarenomore

    Go for Galasso’s Becky, best shot to get into working without a huge legal hassle. He is only interested in world domination, so express a keen interest in that and you got the job with no problem.

    Meanwhile write to the Records Dept. in state you were born in for a copy of your birth certificate. Your student Id should work, as you needed your SSN to get it. A non-drivers license with a picture ID will work too.
    Once you have the birth certificate, call Social Security and ask for a copy of your card as yours was lost, flushed down the john, the dog ate it.

    1. Amazi-Stool

      Wait a moment!

      Your student Id should work…

      She has her student id with her? Are we really sure about this?

      A non-drivers license with a picture ID will work too.

      What is a “non-drivers license”? Does that mean in the US-of-A you need a license to not drive around with a car?

      Once you have the birth certificate (…)

      Well that is easy: Just ask Toe-Dad, because he is the one who has the birth certificate!

      1. fogel

        The bmv in Indiana issues official, state, photo IDs, that’s are not a drivers license as well as driver’s licenses

  33. Idontcarenomore

    I’m too invested in DoA, I’m giving advice to comic characters 🙂

    1. Leorale

      They never listen!

    2. fogel

      Well, these kids need a lot of advice.

    3. fogel

      An ironic thing to do, given your screen name, isn’t it?

      1. fogel

        Or is your name ironic, considering your advice giving?

        1. Yet Another Laura H.

          Double negative.

        2. Clif

          Irony is where you find it.

  34. Agemegos

    I think this might depend on a clandestine operation to burgle Toedad’s home and liberate the Beckster’s SS card. Who has lockpicks? Who has second-storey skills? Who has a car?

    1. Disloyal Subject

      Bad, bad plan. Not only is it venturing into enemy territory where just about everyone is likelier than not to give Ross their full support in recapturing Becky, but it’s also breaking laws and risking discovery through neighborhood watch, burglar alarms, and more. Becky might not even know where to look for her documents, and even if she did, they’re typically kept in safes, which are hard to get open without the code. Admittedly, they could just take the whole safe – personal safes aren’t that big or heavy, and it’s not like Toedad wouldn’t deserve the loss of whatever’s in there – but driving to Becky’s former home to commit theft is orders of magnitude more dangerous, more expensive, and less reliable than Angierhafai’s suggestion. Possibly even more time-consuming too, depending on how long it takes to plan the heist.

      1. DarkoNeko

        That and all the nutjobs in that country have GUNS.

      2. timemonkey

        Just send Joyce to have a visit and grab it while he’s in the bathroom.

        1. inqntrol

          Maybe even lock him in there,a stare in the mirror might reveal his inner demons…..or summon Bloody Mary.

        2. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          I get the strange feeling that, if we ever see Mary covered in blood, she will be significantly less annoying afterwards.

      3. Someone

        Counter point: It would be fucking awesome

        1. Clif

          Never let reason stand in the way of wacky hijinks.

  35. BenRG

    I think that this strip reminds us that the lengths, not all of them strictly legal, that Ross went to to keep Becky completely under his control. I doubt that the Federal or State bureaucracies have the flexibility to deal with a situation like that; it’s sort of charmingly naive how unready they are to confront the possibility of human malfeasance.

    Dina, I know that you like the idea of Becky cuddled up to you 24/7 but that really isn’t likely or practical. If I were Becky, I’d give both Joyce and Dina’s numbers. The highest probability has to be that Becky will be around one of them.

    1. timemonkey

      I don’t think this is some controlling thing. It’s not uncommon for parents to keep the social security card until the child is old enough to actually need it, and for the child to not even think about it until necessary.

    2. CRtwenty

      A social worker could help her out, this is a pretty common form of child abuse and so long as she actually has a SS number there are legal ways she can obtain them. Most of them will involve confronting toedad though.

      1. Gamaran Sepudomyn

        That’s why Becky should apply for work at Galasso’s. Confrontations always work better when the person you’re confronting is hanging over a shark pit.

      2. Clif

        And if she doesn’t have an SSN there are easy ways to obtain one.

  36. m2iCodeJockey

    You know, had one-hell-of-a dirty joke set up for Becky’s somewhat less than smooth recovery from that last panel.

    Something about Becky later using Dina’s phone and being questioned about distraction by the caller…

  37. 0kami

    And then Becky realized that Dina was disturbed at her comment, she apologized and reassured Dina that they still loved each other, which made Dina feel better, then they went back to campus and enjoyed cute adorable smooches.

    The end okay good night.

    1. Palamdrone

      Becky caring about other people? That doesn’t sound like Becky.

      1. timemonkey

        Becky cares, she’s just unobservant.

      2. Spencer

        I know, right? Becky is so outrageously selfish, what with such heinous actions like furiously apologizing to Joyce whenever she feels she’s being a burden, organizing a party for Joyce to make her feel better, and the entire basis of her relationship with Dina being based on how much she genuinely likes and connects with her.

        1. nightsbridge

          How foul!

  38. JessWitt

    Galasso’s or bust, Becky!

  39. BenRG

    Random idea of where the plot may go in the future. Without an SSN, Becky can’t get a legal job but she still needs one. Thus, she ends up in the black economy and working at a nightclub operated by a Korean organised crime family. They have installed a debtor of theirs as manager of the club to work off his debt to them. His name is Blaine O’Malley.

    She learns things there that no 18-year-old should know about some men’s attitude to women. She tells Joyce and Dorothy who pass on the word to Sal and Amber. What happens next becomes part of Bloomington’s folklore.

    SAL (wearing black with white skull motifs): “Do you know the difference between ‘justice’ and ‘punishment’?”

  40. Mom

    Dammit I’m missing Galasso now! I need some Galasso!

  41. Cheryl

    Gosh dang it becky!

  42. Spencer

    Dangit Becky

  43. Charles Phipps

    It’s really not that difficult to get replacement social security cards and the material to get replacements. Becky just basically needs to go request a few things at the local government office and they’ll have it sent. It’s a joke in the book version of JUMPER that he turned to a life of crime because he didn’t have his SS and birth certificate before someone pointed out he could just do X and Y to get them. To which he says, “Oh.”

    1. Charles Phipps

      I worked in government for awhile and many-many adults do not know their SS until they need it.

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        “What’s your social security number?”

        “…Six.”

        “Six?”

        “Well, there’s a six in there.”

        1. Clif

          Who is number one?

          You are, number six.

        2. thejeff

          I am not a number! I am a free man!

    2. lime sheep

      it is absolutely difficult to get your social security card if you have no forms of legal identification and your family is unwilling to help you

      its actually impossible in some places, dont know about indiana though

      1. Charles Phipps

        Depends on where you are because, again, this is a common thing.

  44. Shival

    Is that the GLBT house?

  45. RandomNameGen

    New universe? GREAT! Let’s have her fall in love with someone who is still hung up on joyce in this one too!

    1. Spencer

      It was the best she could do.

  46. Bill M.

    Social Security Number… 5… point 3… B… 7… ?

  47. Triniking1234

    Done goofed, Becky.

    But it’s your first relationship so we’ll let it slide.

    1. No Name

      Second Relationship. Joyce/Becky may have been sunk, but it was still a thing.

      1. lime sheep

        they were not in a romantic relationship. so it wasnt actually a thing.

  48. nothri

    You know, in Dungeons and Dragons sometimes the players disappoint you. You spend days working on a map, then none of the characters take the bait and explore your dungeon? What do I do when that happens. Save the map, put in a folder, and wait. Soon enough the opportunity will arise to use it again, in a rejiggered adventure. The floorplan need not go to waste even if the plot points are a little different.

    My point is that your background picture need not go to waste. Use it again some other time.

    1. m2iCodeJockey

      “Damn you, painter’s algorithm…!!”

  49. Nobody

    Damn it, Becky, read the subtext!

  50. Erin

    It’s always a bit weird for me when young people don’t have their SSN memorized. I don’t think it’s actually unusual or says anything bad about them, it’s just foreign to my own experience. Mine was on the military dependent’s ID I was issued when I was 10 and my driver’s license at 16, and I needed it for various bits of paperwork once or twice a year through highschool. I needed it several times a week as a college freshman, because for some reason the physics professors required that we sign our homework with it.

    1. JohnInCA

      Hrm… I’m gonna guess you’re at least a decade older than me (putting you in your 40s). These days though, with identity theft being what it is, you don’t use your SSN for nearly as much. Using it to sign your homework? Yeah, that’d be a huge no-no today, whereas it may have just been a bit odd in your day.

    2. Eric

      Numbers. I’ve got my SSN memorized, and also know some other family member’s numbers. I can recite the VIN of the first car I bought new in ’00, and the credit account number I wrote on all those checks to pay it off. Driver’s License, number, of course. License plates of the past 20 years, sure. If I sit down at a proper old phone, I can, through muscle memory, recall the 800# and 12 digit calling card number I used all throughout the Army.

      New VIN or student ID? Noooope. I don’t write stuff down repeatedly anymore, or have to key it into a touch tone keypad to get info on it.

  51. JohnInCA

    Hrm… according to my quick internet research, Becky should be able to get a certified copy of her birth certificate fairly easily, and with that she should be able to go to the Social Security Administration and get a new Social Security Card.

    But that requires some basic knowledge of how those documents work/how you obtain them and the time for the process to work itself out.

    1. Yet Another Laura H.

      Nope, she’ll need to prove her identification, as well.

      I quote:
      “Identity

      “We can accept only certain documents as proof of identity. An acceptable document must be current (not expired) and show your name, identifying information (date of birth or age) and preferably a recent photograph. For example, as proof of identity Social Security must see your:

      ” U.S. driver’s license;
      ” State-issued non-driver identification card; or
      U.S. passport.

      If you do not have one of these specific documents or you cannot get a replacement for one of them within 10 days, we will ask to see other documents, including:

      Employee identification card;
      School identification card;
      Health insurance card (not a Medicare card); or
      U.S. military identification card.”

      Becky MIGHT be able to get one if she has her school I.D. Unless her school doesn’t have I.D.’s, or her school is like Pensacola Christian College (not an accredited institution, last I checked, but super-popular with the homeschool crowd.)

      Don’t know what it’s like in Indiana, but I let my I.D. expire in Illinois and had to move to Michigan to get re-ID’ed— and that happened only because back then, a life insurance policy you’d kept active for several years worked as documentation, and I had an open bank account. It would be harder today, and darn near impossible as a kid without cooperation from her parents. Homeless shelters will help you, but will Becky go there?

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