This happened somewhere between 2015 and 2020. I worked for a somewhat small municipality. Our “town hall” is spread out over mostly two buildings right next door to one another. One of the departments in the other building processed U.S. Passport applications as one of its services.
On this day, we had just experienced a snowstorm, dropping around six to twelve inches of snow overnight. Our official snow policy was if school is delayed or canceled, employees may also use that same amount of time (up to two hours) without penalty to ensure they get to work safely.
Some employees like to use the whole allotted time (for various reasons: clearing driveways, young kids in school, needing to arrange care, living in smaller towns with poorly maintained roads, etc.), while others still try to get in on time while being safe on the roads, knowing they don’t have to rush. When this does happen, notices are sent out to all the local TV and radio stations of the delay.
Town Hall opens at 8:00 am. I don’t remember if school had a two-hour delay or was canceled, but about half the employees weren’t in right at 8:00 am. I, myself, arrived at around 8:15 am, needing extra time for clearing off my car and the area around it as well as driving 10-15 mph under the speed limit due to the icy and not fully-plowed roads.
As I walked into the building, I saw a resident who looked familiar, angrily complaining to my manager about something before storming off into the parking lot. Curious, I asked what had happened in the fifteen minutes the building had been open.
The resident had an upcoming international trip planned and needed to renew the passports for his whole family, so he showed up next door to that department at 8:00 am only to find the doors were locked because nobody was in at the time.
He stomped over to our building to see if anyone was in, since we were supposed to open at 8:00 am, so he was furious as to why nobody was in next door.
He found my manager, screamed at her for a bit while she stood there with a shocked expression, but quietly allowed him to rant uninterrupted. She explained that due to the storm, some employees were taking a little extra time to get into the offices safely, but they should all be in soon. She also reminded him that passport applications don’t begin until 9:00 am (this is posted on the website and on the door with the hours).
Unsatisfied, the resident demanded, “Don’t you know who I am?!” This is where it all clicked as to why he looked familiar; he was the owner of a chain of local car dealerships, famous for his breed-specific dogs in their commercials. Knowing this, my manager (typically not one to get flustered at angry customers) cheerfully answered, “Yes! You’re [Full Name]!”
Thrown off a bit, he then stormed off into the parking lot, which was when I passed him.
The passport department employees did show up within the hour and were able to process his family’s applications quickly. Surprisingly, he came back to our building to apologize for his behavior earlier, which my manager dismissed as unnecessary, but she thanked him. I had several interactions with him after that incident, and he was never anything but polite and personable those other times, so I chalked it up to travel and weather-related stress.
I told my mother what he had said to my manager (“Don’t you know who I am?!”). And now, years later, whenever his commercials come on and we’re in the same room, she always blurts out, “I know who he is!”
