Some find it shocking, and even school officials will argue the point. Did you know that birth certificates are not necessarily required for school enrollment? Especially in the case of certain student subgroups (such as homeless), federal law requires that students be enrolled in public schools that receive federal funds even if no documentation is available!
Consider this in contrast with the case of a gentleman born in the mid-twentieth century. Possibly he was born at home, but even had he been born in a hospital, birth certificates were not issued at that time for all births. When the boy was about eight years old, his parents obtained a birth certificate for him.
Forward to the present. At age seventy-five, this man needed a passport to travel outside the United States. As his birth certificate was issued eight years after his birth, another form of identification was required to prove his existence and identity. One of the places to which he was referred for additional documentation of his existence was the school system he attended.
Let us aimlessly consider for a moment. Was not this this man alive from the actual moment of conception/birth? Did the fact that he did not have an official birth certificate mean he was not alive until he was eight years old? Was he any more alive after a birth certificate was issued for him at age eight? At age seventy-five, though the man had a birth certificate issued at age eight, did he suddenly cease to be enough alive to obtain a passport on the merit of his physical existence and the birth certificate issued when he was eight?
Is there some type of age discrimination inherent in this scenario?
This reminds me of a situation that involved Dustin, my permanently disabled stepson. He received in-home care provided through Tennessee’s Medicaid program as an indigent adult in his own right. My wife Mary Ann (Dustin’s mother) was very particular of and wanted to be involved in Dustin’s care. There is much lip service given to patient families being involved in their relatives’ health care, but there is obviously a difference in interpretation as to the definition of involvement, contingent on the point of view (family or provider/state). State officials and the companies contracted to provide his care were constantly “butting heads” with my Mary Ann. At one point, any time she attempted to intervene in Dustin’s care, one of his most obnoxious caregivers would growl, “You’re not the conservator!” Mary Ann, however, was Dustin’s power of attorney. Though we felt it unnecessary, we took the necessary steps for Mary Ann and me to be Dustin’s conservators. What changed? Nothing! Nothing, that is, with the exceptions of my lowered bank account for the cost of obtaining the conservatorship and increased agitation at an adversarial health care situation.
Hopefully the man needing additional proof of his existence will receive his passport. Hopefully it will be enough to allow him to travel where he wishes without further strife.
Someday this man will, as shall we all, die. What if no death certificate is issued? Can he be embalmed and buried without a certificate of death? Will he be sent back from the “Pearly Gates” to get proof from earthly governmental agencies that he is dead? (Perhaps that is why some say there are “ghosts” floating around.)
Here are the cold, hard facts. A person who is breathing and whose heart is beating is alive. Even if sustained on life support systems, even if declared “brain dead”, the person is (technically? Legally?) alive. Once there is no heartbeat and the organ systems cease to function, the person is dead to this world, regardless of any alternative interpretation. The actual states of life and death are not altered by the presence or absence of government certification.
God and everyone knows this, but does the government have this understanding?
Go figure!

ANSWER TO QUESTION OF THE WEEK # 93
If you are an average American, in your whole life, how much time will you will spend waiting at red lights? (ANSWER: Six months.)

QUESTION OF THE WEEK # 94
Why was the man on two diets simultaneously? (See the next “Mincey’s Musings” in historicunioncounty.com for the answer.)

FROM MY EMAIL WORLD

"Our country was founded by geniuses, but it's being run by idiots.”
--Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy

"Americans are thinking, there are some good members of Congress, but we can’t figure out what they are good for. Others are thinking, how did these morons make it through the birth canal.”
–Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy

"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes, the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical."
--Thomas Jefferson

On being asked why he chose showbiz for his career: "When I was born, the doctor said to my mother, congratulations, you have an eight-pound ham."
--Bob Hope