the clash of the bureaucracies

Today I went to One Police Plaza, at the end of Avenue of the Finest, to get fingerprinted for my (now-something-like-50-page-long) bar application. Two sets, the bar people need, with the officer taking the prints signing the back and his/her ON number (no idea) printed on the back. No easy task, this. Apparently One Police Plaza, down by the Brooklyn Bridge, is the only place in New York to get one's fingerprints officially fingerprinted without breaking the law first. The fingerprints cost $15 plus a buck for the second copy, and that $16 must be a money order only, no cash accepted (!). And they have no ON number, and no, she will _not_ sign the back of the card. My fingerprints must be exceptionally difficult to take, because I now have two copies of ten black smudges and a "best prints available" stamp. Perhaps it's a conspiracy.

One cool thing though is they take the fingerprints digitally, rolling your fingers across a screen. No more inky fingers.

. . .