Bill Stewart wrote:

I wonder if they'll still accept an American passport; the country has obviously been taken over by Pod People while we weren't looking....

I don't know if this was an isolated incident, but I recently attempted to pick up a package at the Post Office using my passport as I.D. NO, I was told, this is not acceptable identification, and as a union worker, you can't tell me what to do. Appeals to chicken-hearted management were brushed off; I finally identified the highest ranking union official (shop steward?), who reluctantly ordered the recalcitrant worker to fetch my parcel. Your guess is as good as mine... Dave Rose