Carrying Papers

I was thinking about those poor souls in Arizona that will always have to be carrying papers to identify themselves as legal. Then I remembered living somewhere overseas as a child where I had to always have my papers. I wasn't sure where it was, but I assumed it was Spain, because I lived there when Franco was dictator - and he was a pretty scary character. All I remembered was that it was thoroughly drummed into my head that I was never to leave home without my papers. I could also remember exactly what it looked like, and how terribly awkward it was to carry. I had a vague memory that I had saved this thing. I'm a pretty organized person, and I knew where it would be if I had it. And I found it! To my surprise, this was for when I lived in France, of all places.

As you can see, it was very long. But it did fold into a more manageable size - 3.5" X 5". But I was always having trouble finding places to carry it, since it didn't fit into any of my pockets. You can also see that it got a lot of abuse - it's torn and full of water marks and spots.

Shortly after I found this, I ran across an article in The Atlantic about French ID cards, which they apparently still have, although they rarely ask for them. The only people who are asked to show them are youngish, African or Arabic looking males.

"As far as I understand, such identity checks have been a long staple of police work in France going back to the Revolutionary/Napoleonic era wherein the State underwent a reinforcement of its prerogatives over the citizenry."

Wait until the conservatives in Arizona hear about this. They'll be horrified to be compared to the French!