Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Making a Point

Boy Genius is now sixteen. This means he is old enough to hold his own concession cards and apply for various government assistance schemes.
It’s been a long, hard road but all paperwork finally in order now we simply need to provide one hundred points of identification.
In addition to his birth certificate.
Easy, no?
NO!
Health benefits care as issued by federal government=unacceptable.
Companion card, photo id as issued by government after filling in 27 (approx) pages of forms=unacceptable.
So what is acceptable?
Motor Vehicle Driver’s Licence-did I mention he is sixteen?
Registration Certificate from a national professional registration board (eg, doctors, nurses, dentists)-did I mention he is autistic and has a functional vocabulary of around 50 words?
Firearm Licence, Electoral Enrolment, Marriage Certificate-did I mention that he is SIXTEEN and AUTISTIC?
Finally I managed to pull together sixty points of identification but where to get another forty? I scan the list of acceptable documents and there is only one possibility that I haven’t explored. A Bank Card is worth forty points.
Can you guess what happens next, boys and girls?
That’s right! Boy Genius now has a Visa card.
A Visa card of his very own.
Did I mention that he’s sixteen and autistic?