"Now or Later" - Dionne Farris, 1994

Continuing yesterday's discussion of ID cards in Britain...

I'm already accustomed to carrying ID around with me, actually. If you think about it, Americans carry ID all the time -- by way of their drivers licenses. Even those who don't drive will often have some sort of photo ID that they carry with them. I know that people in New York City do, for example.

In Britain, you don't have to carry your "driving licence" around with you. I do, because it's proof of my residency. (Don't ask me to go into the story of how complicated it was to prove identity and residency to even get that licence last year!) Also, I do because it's habit. I'm used to carrying proof of my ability to drive around with me, whether I'm driving or not.

I was very surprised to find out that in Britain, if requested for your driving licence, all you have to do is show up at a police station within something like 7 days and show it to them at that time. You do not have to carry it with you when you're driving.

Isn't that interesting?

No wonder people here in the UK are troubled by the thought of having to carry an ID card all the time!


Janet

Listening To: "What I Really Mean", Robert Earl Keen