Soooo...changing your name can be a hassle. I thought I would share my fun with some of you ladies who are going to be going through it since I know it is one of the more popular board topics. Today's adventure: The Social Security Office!! I heard that you should try SS before the DMV. Not everyone has said this, but most of the posts I had read told me this, so I decided to go there first. I did a bit of research online at their website ahead of time and completed the SS-5 form, brought my certified copy of my marriage license and my driver's license to the local office. (NOTE: these are items for someone who just needs a name change and is a resident who already has a SS card). I was floored by the sheer volume of people at the office. I think we are all conditioned to expect the intense wait at the DMV, but I just didn't think that it would be as bad (or worse as I found out) at Social Security. I arrived on my lunch break hoping to be able to achieve the name change over the hour, it did not work. So I decided to come back another day. Unfortunately, the Social Securit offices hours are not as convenient as one would hope. They are M-F: 9-4, with Federal Holidays off - these include days most of us work, like Veteran's Day. So I decided to go in to work late and arrived at 9:03 am the next day they were open. There were already 80 people in the office and I had a wait time of 42 mins. The good thing is that the office is organized. They have an automated check-in stand that allows you to select the option you want for the service you are there for. It then prints a ticket with a number and a wait time for you. The employees call out numbers of the different groups. You'll find only certain windows are assigned to certain things. The day I was there only one person was assigned to the group that includes name changes. With an estimated wait time of 42 mins., I wait for approx. 1 hour and 30 mins. - so I suggest you bring a book. The office provides chairs and is fairly clean, but noisy. There were more than a few people that had to stand and some were in the hallway outside the office. Once my number was called, the process was easy. I handed over my documents and answered simple questions. It took no more than 5 minutes. I went to the Social Security office in Aurora located off of Jewell Ave. Your experience may have been much different, but I thought I would share mine since I had no idea what I was walking into and figured it'd be beneficial for anyone going to this office in the future. My next challenge is the DMV
