The meeting had not started well.

“Sir, I’m sorry. This isn’t a valid social security card.”

I was standing at a counter, applying for a RealID drivers license. I had all of the required documents. I was excited to finish the process.

“What do you mean? This is my social security card. I’ve had it for decades. It’s signed. It’s beautiful. What do you mean, ‘it’s not valid’?”

“I mean I can’t accept it as identification for RealID”.

“Can you explain that to me, please?”

She showed me. New cards are printed on different paper. They have Corinthian columns, one on either side of the card and a banner than says “Social Security” across the top.

“We need the one with the columns. You’ll have to apply for a new one.”

Sigh………..Seriously?…..Ok, Fine….. FINE.

And then…

“Do you have your birth certificate…… OK, thanks….. I’m sorry, sir. This isn’t a birth certificate.”

“WHAT?”

I looked down at the document.

“Before she died, my mother sent me an envelope on which she wrote, ‘Don’t lose this, this is your birth certificate.’ And this is it. It’s beautiful. It’s been in her envelope since the day I received it. I’ve never needed to use it. And now I need to use it and you’re telling me it’s not a birth certificate?”

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir.  I’m afraid so.”

“Are you kidding?”

“No, sir. What you have here is called a birth registration. It was issued by the hospital in which you were born. You’ll need to apply to the state in which you were born to get a birth certificate.”

I felt like a balloon gone flat. Obviously, my mother hadn’t known the difference. She took what the hospital gave her and I had remembered and relied for decades on my mother‘s handwritten note on the envelope, confidently knowing that, should I need it, I had a birth certificate in the safe deposit box.

Sometimes, you don’t know until someone asks.

Nick Miller is President of Clarity Advantage based in Concord, MA. He assists banks and credit unions to generate more and more profitable relationships, faster, with business clients, their owners, and their employees through better sales strategies and execution. Additional articles on Clarity’s web site.