A Step In The Right Direction

Today was a good day. They finally decided I could have a bank account…and their easy ‘less than five minutes’ sign up process only took a week!

Nah, I gotta hand it to the good people at the bank. They had to find a way to get me approved without me having an American driver’s license, a permanent social security number or any state-issued ID. It took time, but they put all the work in.

Now, having a bank account might not seem like such a big deal, but it’s amazing how much I missed having one. Now we can pay our bills online, or just mail out checks instead of having to physically drive all over town to pay them. The ability to buy stuff online, not have to carry cash around…I love it.

I suppose this is also a big deal to me, because it’s another step forward in getting truly settled in the USA. It really is a case of me having another few years of filling out forms to get back to the point I was at before leaving the UK.

Still on the list : Getting a social security number, getting a drivers license and getting citizenship. It’s been one hell of a long road getting things sorted over the past 6+ years, and I’ve still got a ways to go…but at least now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The best part? I can now be one of those really annoying people who buys a Pepsi and a Snickers bar with a check, and keeps everyone in line waiting…just for the sheer hell of it.

I also came within a gnats wing of getting the Snoopy checks…but that’s another story.