Cleared for Purgatory

Cleared for Purgatory

I managed to get in touch with the security person and returned to Joint Field Office (JFO) to start the security clearing process. It turns out I did not need the 10 page form I was told to fill out. The form, now in the recycling bin, asked for the address of all the places I have lived for the past 7 years, including the names and phone numbers of my roommates to verify the information. Same for employers, education and countries visited. After filling out the requisite (shorter) paperwork, I went to another building, surrounded by abandoned commercial buildings. The only operating businesses were a check cashing joint and the FBI fingerprinting office.

The time spent waiting for security clearance is called purgatory. You are not allowed in any of the buildings except for the Reading Room. Reading is a bit euphemistic, as there is only one copy of one booklet in the reading room. What’s worse, we all received copies of the same booklet when we first got there. I am in purgatory right now.