Fingerprinting UPDATE

Ok, so when I last posted, I was basically complaining (well, there is probably a more accurate word for it but I'll keep the blog rated G, lol) about the fingerprinting process etc but I felt I need to give an update of how the saga played out, and also a mea culpa for something great that happened to us when getting them done.

In the last post, I said I was on my way to get my prints done.  Ah, the best laid plans.... I got to our local police station- yes, the same one that had some blabbermouth gossip about us- and after I paid for the fingerprints, they told me that oops, I had just missed the time frame they did them in by a few minutes.   Now let me set the stage here.  This is NOT a huge city and it is basically quiet downtown like all the time.  Its not quite Petticoat Junction, but its close, lol.  Anyhow, after the woman behind the plexiglass told I missed their 3pm cutoff by a few minutes, I see that there were 3 cops sitting around inside the office just shooting the....well, I'll say breeze.  I said, looking at them directly, "So there isn't anyone available that can help me out?".  Without even checking, she just replied "Nope".  And then added that they only do their fingerprinting from 10-3pm Tues and Thurs so I would have to wait 5 days to come back.  Yea, thanks,  that's totally convenient.  Maybe I'm crazy and this is totally rhetorical, but how exactly are people that work (ie my husband) supposed to make it down there then to get things like that done with those awesome hours?  Anyway, I asked if I could get a refund for the prints (I paid at the clerk's office) and she actually had the gall to say "Ooo, I don't think so".  Um...huh?

Frustrated and a little freaked because we need to get these FBI fingerprints in, I did the only thing I could think of- I got on my iPhone and found the number to the Clemson Police Department, the next town over.  Now, Clemson isn't huge either but it was a world of difference in professionalism.  I called (after leaving a lengthy, non-G rated, rant on my husband's voicemail about our local law enforcement, lol) and talked to an incredibly nice woman who said we could come in on Friday (the following day) and they were open from 8-4:30.  Hallelujah!!  This seemed like it would work out perfect because we were on our way to Columbia, SC for the Lego League State Competition and we would literally drive by it on our way.   My husband was off work so my anxiety eased and I focused on getting everything together for the next day. 

Of course....things didn't go as planned.  We got to the CPD and it was very quiet and clean in there- only us in the waiting area.  I thought "Awesome".  And then, the other show dropped.  Just as we walked up to the desk, we saw a paper up saying we had to bring our own blue fingerprint card in to have them done.  Um, what?  I wasn't happy at all since we didn't have to do that previously.  To make sure, my husband went up to ask the desk sergeant, Officer Maw, who ended up being our angel.

Officer Maw is a kindly, round-faced little man with a soft southern drawl.  He explained that usually organizations that want full prints send you in with the card and so they didn't keep them there because the cards were too difficult to get from the FBI (hmm, see a pattern there?).  I said "Well the FBI didn't give us one and we have no idea where to get one.  We are adopting internationally and not applying for a job etc so we don't know where to get one even".  Officer Maw said, "I'm sorry but you need a card".  At that point, I was bordering on potentially falling into a full-on rant- albeit a quiet, controlled one- about the federal government and how it they didn't seem to support local law enforcement, blah blah blah.  I told the officer we didn't blame him at all, but that it was really frustrating for people that are just trying to do the right thing and whose only goal is to provide a child with a happy home (as you can see, I was on a roll by this time).  He agreed and then asked us to wait a second. 

As Officer Maw left the office for a second, I turned to Brian and said "Can you believe this?  I can't stand the FBI!"  He joked that I should be careful because Big Brother could be listening so I laughed and repeated it again, a little clearer so the mics could pick it up.  Ok, we were kidding an trying to make the best of the situation, but we were frustrated. 

Then Officer Maw came back in the office with...........................two blue fingerprint cards.  He said he went and "scared up a couple" because he could tell we were "good kids".  I was literally stunned to silence.  After recovering myself, I thanked him profusely and apologized if I seemed frustrated because it had nothing to do with him.  He chuckled and said he knew that.  I wanted to hug him!

He had us fill them the forms and then took us back himself to print us.  Even here, the station was brighter and cleaner than the one in our little downtown and unlike the other station, he didn't make us go to where criminals get printed; he took us to a special area.  He did two great sets and was happy and chatting the whole time.  He showed Case and us about the different fingerprint markings- whirls, swirls, humps, etc- and was all-around awesome.  And he answered an important question I posed in the last post about why they can't just run our prints again.  He said not only do people's prints change due to injury or cuts etc (duh, I should have known that), but people actually purposely do things to change them to help them in a life of crime.  I looked and Brian and said "See, that's why we would make terrible criminals- that wouldn't even have crossed our minds."  We all laughed.

After we got done, I asked him what we owed him.  He smiled and said "You don't owe me a thing.  This is on me".  I almost cried.  I told him that we were going to write a letter to his chief of police and tell him how wonderful he was (without going into specifics of course because I don't want him to get into trouble, lol).  Brian has treated ALOT of officers in both police departments (ortho problems and injuries in the line of duty), always working them in.  Just like them, we are happy to acknowledge and praise anyone that goes above and beyond and this quiet desk sergeant definitely did.  He was so humble we would write a letter on his behalf and thanked us.  No, THANK YOU OFFICER MAW- you were definitely an angel sent from above!!

So, the fingerprints have been sent and received at the FBI (hopefully the FBI won't reject them) and my faith in human decency is again restored.   And I am busy writing a letter to the chief of the Clemson Police Department about one wonderful man who made all the difference in the world to us.  I think maybe I'll call too.