Stream of Consciousness

United States military service members are issued identification cards. Spouses and children over the age of ten are also issued identification cards. Dependent I.D. cards are good for 4 years. I sat in the waiting room with my 14 year old son when it came time to renew his I.D. card.

We sat in the waiting room for such an inordinate amount of time that he eventually asked “why is this taking so long?” I am a veteran of sitting and waiting for government employees to do their job, but I needed to tell him why we had to wait.

“ID cards are made of plastic. Do you know where plastic comes from?”

“No, where?”

“Well, plastic is made from a derivative of petroleum products. Essentially, oil. Do you know where oil comes from?”

“Where?”

“Well, millions of years ago, the dinosaurs died and eventually became the oil deposits from which today we produce many products.”

”Okay. But, why are they taking so long?”

“Oh. They’re in the back waiting for the dinosaur to die.”