What's in a name?

Women get married, women take their husband's name.
It happens all the time.
OH!

Except when you live in Queens, NY or Vegas...then, there are special rules.
Our government Social Security offices have decided that if you live in Queens, NY or in Vegas... that there are special rules to submit your paper work.
It seems as if anywhere else in the country you can change your name with some ease.
But not when you live in Queens or Vegas....we're special here & have to do it the special way.

Let me tell you a bit about my journey:
~Joel & I go to get our marriage license.
~on the marriage license you tell them what name you want.
-keep your maiden name
-take your husband's name
-hyphenate the 2 names
-do something else.
this is suppose to make it easier when you change everything with Social Security & all the other peeps.
~I chose to keep my maiden name (as a middle name) and add my husband's name (as my last name) , without the hyphen.
~this is recorded on the license, we get married (YAY!), now I'm all set to go to Social Security & change it all....
~I go to the Social Security office, during my lunch break, wait for about an hour & 15 minutes
~I observe how easy it is for the other "name changers" in line as they submit their paper work.
~I get to the front of the line, submit my papers and.....
WAIT! They tell me I'm not supposed to be there! I live in Queens & I have to go to the special office.
~ok, not such a big deal, I only wasted my lunch break waiting in line to do nothing!
then......
~I take a day off work (because the SS office is only open during office hours) -- fortunately my husband was able to come with me, it was nice to have the company.
~we buy a train ticket to Jamaica, Queens -- really far out in Queens & WAY too far to try & ride the subway to.
~I wait in line for an hour at the SS office in Queens, all my paperwork filled out & ready to go!
~I get to the front of the line, only to be told that I can't have my maiden name as my middle name (WHAT! I have other friends who have done this with NO problem!)
~I am told I have to go to the "Name Change Office" to officially change my name.
(which seems a little odd since, according to the Social Security website, your marriage certificate/license is enough proof for the name change)
~ok, we got to the Name Change Office, fill out all the paper work, & have to submit a fee (yes, I had to pay to do all of this....)
~so, now......
~I am waiting for the judge to approve my name change & tell me "it's ok" for me to have my husband's name & keep something I already have (my maiden name)
~it takes "about 8 weeks" for my paperwork to even reach the judge's hands
~then I have to put a note in the paper telling the world I have a new name:
the gal formerly known as "Megan middle name last name" will now be known as "Megan middle name last name married name"

It all seems like a lot of work.
yes, I know I'm making it a little harder on myself by not just dropping my maiden name, but that name means a lot to me & even tho I can't 'officially' carry on the family name, we only have a couple of gents who can do so.
So, I wanna help keep the name alive.

Did I mention that the "customer service" at the SS & Name Change offices weren't too helpful either?
I just wanted to ask questions to make sure I was doing the right thing!

So, now I wait for the judge....
Oh, how I pray it'll all work out ok.

For now I feel like I don't have a real last name.
& don't get me started on trying to book travel (flights, car rental, hotels) through all of this!!!
Sheesh!

You'd think that by now with the millions of women who get married every year, that the government would know how to handle this & make it easier!
Lord help us.

Any words from the wise who have done this run around before?

Jail Time.

I heard this on the subway the other day:
"Sometimes I think they let me outta jail too early!"

yeah, me too.