In Hay, everybody knows who I am, or at least, it sometimes seems that way. I'm greeted by name in the bank and the post office and the newsagents, and most of the other shops, not to mention certain drinking establishments.
However, outside Hay it is occasionally necessary to prove my identity - and I haven't been able to do that for a while.
The main documents that are accepted for proof of identity are driving licence (I can't drive) and passport (my passport ran out at the beginning of the year) as well as a few tax documents that I don't have, or proof that I'm claiming benefits (which I'm not). So legally, it's hard to prove that I exist.
Last week, therefore, I checked the exorbitant amount it now costs to get a new passport, and looked around for someone to take my passport photo. When I got the last one, I went into Hereford and got the photos at a booth in Woolworths. Since Woolworths doesn't exist any more (and goodness knows where the photo booth went), I needed another option.
Fortunately, I didn't have to look far. Steve Like at the Post Office now takes passport photos, on a very impressive looking camera, against the regulation pale grey background (and no smiling!) huddled under the stairs to the side of the counters.
And today, voila! My new passport arrived and I can prove that I exist again (and go on a foreign holiday, of course).
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