I spent 43 years working for the Social Security Administration before I recently retired as the manager of a district office. When people I am getting to know find out where I worked, there are always questions that come up. Since I am new to the forum, here goes:
Q. Can illegal aliens get SS cards (numbers)?
A. No. They can buy fake cards with invalid numbers, but they can't get legitimate SSNs.
Q. So how do you prevent illegals from getting valid numbers?
A. Every SS number applicant has to submit proof of US Citizenship or Lawful Admittance Status. SSA has direct access to Immigration records. We check all of the immigration records with INS. We have no trouble detecting fake immigration records (which are fairly common). We don't see as many fake ones as we used to because the word is out on the street that we'll catch the fake ones.
Q. What's all of this about the government "raiding the trust fund.?"
A. When you buy a savings bond, what does the government do with the money you pay for the bond? The answer of course is anything they damn well please. When the social security act was passed, by law ALL of the money that goes in the trust fund must be invested in US treasury obligations. There is no other option. So essentially the trust fund money is going into savings bond like instruments. So if the government has been "raiding the trust fund", they have been doing it since 1937. That is nothing new. Some of you may remember that George Bush floated a trial balloon about allowing people to invest a small portion of their social security taxes into the market. He was crucified by the Dems and the press for his scheme "make Wall Street rich" and destroy Social Security. That went no where.
Q. Why does SSA have armed security guards? That costs money. Are you afraid of a bunch of old ladies?
A. The majority of visitors at SSA offices are not bankers and teachers filing for retirement. Many of those we don't even see since they file on line. Of course the vast majority of visitors are wonderful people that it is a pleasure to serve. But we have a fair number of visitors who are mentally ill, prisoners completing their prison sentences and wanting their benefits reinstated, and people very angry for a variety of reasons (their disability claim was denied, they don't have the proper documents to get a SS card, their eligibility for benefit reinstatement after release from prison by law doesn't happen until the month after release etc etc.) So yeah we need armed security. I have been threated on too many occasions to count. I have been to court 4 times regarding threats, destruction of government property (picking up a computer and throwing it at the guard, a guy exposing himself and masturbating in the reception area in front of children) and on and on. One guy who threatened one of my employees turned out to be a drug cartel guy who the DEA was investigating. One of my female employees was stalked by a psycho who decided he loved her and wanted to meet her after work. (He is no longer a problem. In jail for rape - not of my employee.) Another employee working on a fraud case was threated by phone by the subject. He later went to jail. I could go on a lot longer. So yeah, we need armed security. Only a small sample of incidents.

Lots of other misconceptions, but these are the most common questions.

People who wonder why some government offices have armed guards and other security measures are to be either congratulated on their naïve view of the world, or asked what the weather is like on the planet they came from. McDonald’s employees get assaulted over things like the number of ketchup packs in their takeout, and we think people aren’t going to get upset when actual money is involved—?

Quick question. To get a new SS number, what does a person with a newly issued 10 year green card need to bring with them to the office? Seems there’s a lot of bad info on the web.

I recently retired from a public water utility after 43 years. I get lots of questions about why MY water is free,(it never has been-I pay the same rate as everyone else), the "crooked politicians etc. who are involved in the rate structure etc.,(I have no more influence on that stuff than anyone else-just a worker bee here.) Why I'm poisoning people with chemicals like fluoride etc. (The same water goes to my house and I drink it too.)The question of armed security came up and having spent about a year in the Customer Service department I got to meet some really "interesting" people. Many get mad because their water was shut off because we are racists,(the fact that you did not pay for a long time probably had more to do with it.) I have been threatened, cursed, etc. just for trying to resolve someone's issue. One really funny thing I noticed when I took calls was that while many of these people would not pay their water bill for months, they had ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING that you could get from the phone company! I worked in that department before cell phones became as prominent as they are now so I guess there is little change there. I also had relatives who worked customer service for the gas company and electric company and they had similar tales to tell.

quote:

Q. Can illegal aliens get SS cards (numbers)?
A. No. They can buy fake cards with invalid numbers, but they can't get legitimate SSNs.

I'm sure that is true, but they can get Individual Tax ID Numbers which to the layman look just like SSNs, but are issued by the IRS for the purpose of paying taxes.

Welcome to the forum.

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10096.pdf Aliens applying for SSN. Everything is here.

Welcome to the forum from the mid west. A high school pal also retired from SSA in NJ, he had similar experiences with "problem" clients.

How about the, now that you are retired. Do you now hate everything (except the pension) you loved ( ) for 43 years associated with your employer and the job like so many end up doing.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: old rugged cross,

Hey, Fed, just tell them your an economist, or a physicist, or a mathematician . They'll smile politely, then find someone else to talk to fast.

I don't like talking a about work when I'm not at work. I talk about work at work.

Any plans to leave NJ?

When I dont want to field the usual PITA cop comments from people I have been introduced to, I tell them I was a garbage man.
Which I was, more or less.
Welcome aboard.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
When I dont want to field the usual PITA cop comments from people I have been introduced to, I tell them I was a garbage man.
Which I was, more or less.
Welcome aboard.

I find saying I was a janitor shuts these conversations down quickly.

Any plans to leave NJ? Only thing keeping me here is family. This state stinks. Very high taxes, corrupt and incompetent government, some of the worst gun laws in the country. There are lots of good people here, and more conservatives than you might think. But it still stinks.

I tell people the truth--I was a COBOL programmer. That is so "old hat" that I'm quickly left talking to myself (a much more interesting person).

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
When I dont want to field the usual PITA cop comments from people I have been introduced to, I tell them I was a garbage man.
Which I was, more or less.
Welcome aboard.

I tell people that being a cop was akin to being everyone’s parent...I got called when you screwed up and I have to try and fix it.

Sometimes I told people I worked for the city in the sanitation division...not an untrue statement.

Welcome to the forums.
My daughter and son in law live in NJ. Restationed there from Pearl Harbor Hickam. The AF sure messes with these kids. Spend years in paradise, now we will let you finish out and retire in Jersey. lol

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
When I dont want to field the usual PITA cop comments from people I have been introduced to, I tell them I was a garbage man.
Which I was, more or less.
Welcome aboard.

I tell people that being a cop was akin to being everyone’s parent...I got called when you screwed up and I have to try and fix it.

Sometimes I told people I worked for the city in the sanitation division...not an untrue statement.

No doubt, Jim Cirillo would appreciate this.

Regarding being a .gov in the customer service position, I try to apply the principle of 'give respect to get respect'. The 'interesting' citizens are out there. Usually the 'respect principle' and depersonalization works well enough. But the risk is real; low low low probability is not the same as no probability.

I’ll just say to the both of you, 43 years doing any job is amazing.

where do they keep the lock box?