Betsy Chessler, Future Notary

Mug shot of future notary

Can't seem to rotate the above mug shot properly, but maybe that's all for the best.  Yesterday I spent the entire day learning how to be a Notary Public.  The Notary Public is a little understood public servant who verifies identities of poor souls who must obtain "notarization" of their documents. The Notary Public, while collecting up to $10 per signature notarized, protects the public from fraud by forcing the signer to appear face to face with a notary and present credible evidence of their authentic selves, usually in the form of a drivers' license.  And no, student IDs don't count.  Nor do Canadian ID cards (but a passport will work.)

As part of the process of becoming a notary, I had a mug shot taken (above) and all my fingers and thumbs were scanned.  Now the Secretary of State will check to see if I have a nefarious past that I did not reveal on my notary application.  If I pass the 30 question test, my check does not bounce, and I have a clean record,  I will be "commissioned."  I don't believe I've ever been "commissioned" before, and I am looking forward to it.  Like POTUS, my term of office will be four long years. During which time, I can wield my notary seal and painstakingly print entries in my Notary journal by hand, which I will keep under lock and key.  When I die, or my commission expires, I have to turn my journal into to the local county clerk.  Yes, it's that precious.

Two other things: my sister Alyce is also a notary, in the state of Washington.  And secondly, when I began waxing poetic over the vagaries of notarization at the dinner table last night, my son Samuel raised both hands and said, "STOP.  Please STOP."  Yes, the conversation was that scintillating.