Our wonky life

Today I received an official warning from my employer that I would be placed on unpaid suspension if I fail to provide within three days a completed government form and proof of residency or citizenship as outlined on official government pages.

I visited the government pages in question and found that I could provide either my passport and proof of legal residency, or my driver's license and social security card.

The warning further specified that I could only provide original documentation, not copies, to an approved representative of my employer (HR in this case.) 

My white privilege laughed at the absurdity of it and wrote to the company's absentee HR representative. The rest of me was (and remains) perturbed by the entire experience.

The absentee HR representative thanked me for reaching out and casually told me to email a photocopy of what I had. Since the warning I received was quite explicitly against this, I made arrangements for a Monday meeting. Upon being pressed as to why this is being asked, I was dismissively told that my company has recently switched from hard copy to electronic and my info must have been missed. 

In the meantime, I looked up the name of the project this requirement is being made in the name of. Curiosity may have killed the cat but satisfaction brought him back. Besides, I had already provided this upon being hired 18 years ago and being married 13 years ago. My employer became an official contractor to the U.S. government some time back; I understand that bureaucracy must be appeased.

Then I had a Wait a minute! moment, realizing that as a federal contractor, my company is obligated to provide certain information to the federal government. The Trump administration is in a position to seek any information it wants about those connected to federal contractors. What if Putin's puppets decide to go on a fishing expedition?

In light of this, and being familiar with the quirky or snarky names many companies give to internal projects, I appreciate the irony when my internal search into the project name yielded information about data being stored in things referencing the Cold War with Russia and Russia's KGB.