In 2003, I made a pact with myself to leave the country at least once a year.
The Forward Passport: Official documents allowing for travel from country to country have been around in some form forever, more or less. According to the official Canadian passport website, a bureaucrat named Nehemiah was given papers to head to Judah in 450 B.C. King Artaxerxes of Persia gave him a letter to present to “governors of provinces beyond the river,” so he too could safely wander the desert. Amateur etymologists would probably guess that passport originated with maritime journeys, but they would be wrong. According to Answers.com, passport probably comes from gaining access to the cities of medieval times; it’s from the Latin for gate. That being said, word nerds will be happy to know that the popularity of “passé ports,” came under King Louis XIV of France who personally signed documents for his pet sailors traversing he high seas.
The American Way: Locally, citizens of the thirteen original colonies were issued three-to-six month passports to move about the fledgling country during the American Revolution. In 1915, an executive order mandated that every person coming in or out of the United States needs a passport. Issued by the State Department, passports for those over sixteen are valid for ten years. In fiscal year 2005, 10,123,424 were granted for Americans to visit all points on the globe, whether they are wanted there or not.
Coats of Standard Colors: Passports tend to be all-business, a basic color punctuated with a national emblem. A few Latino countries have spiced it up a bit: Ecuador’s is mauve, Paraguay’s is purple and Panama’s is a soothing baby blue. The United States passport is like the suit your local alderman wears, dark blue with a patriotic eagle on its lapel. In 1993, a green passport was issued with a one-page tribute to America’s first great globetrotting celebrity, but Ben Franklin’s moment in the sun was short-lived. The passport was discontinued in 1994, which seems neither healthy, wealthy, nor wise.
I Always Feel Like (Somebody’s Watching Me): In 1981, America became the first country to utilize machine-readable passports, but the 9/11 Commission upped the security ante by recommending that “all persons entering the United States (no just at airports) be required to carry biometric passports.” This year, the State Department began issuing passports that contain an integrated computer chip identifying travelers via facial-recognition technology. I believe the name of the new program is the Minority Report.
(City, Fall 2006)
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
