In the continuing saga of stupid government requirements for a passport I received a telephone call today from some idiot in the state department that wants a copy of my husband's death certificate that shows his last name was Richards. Since my driver's license was issued in 2000 it does not show that I have used the name Richards for at least 5 years! My driver's license is issued in the name Bette Bunker Richards. I told this idiot that my license to practice law was in the name of Bette Bunker Richards and I had legally changed my name to Richards. He then proceeded to tell me the law in California that you need a court order to change your name. I promptly told him I am a retired judge and there is no state law in the nation that requires that. You can change your name at will any time you want to and need no court to confirm or bless it. He reluctantly agreed with that. I also told him California law does not apply to me as I am not a resident of California because I am sure he did not know that Tucson, Arizona is not in California. My name change occurred in a Tribal Court. That really blew his mind. In spite of this conversation, the idiot did not want a copy of the court order changing my name or my law license issued 25 years ago with the name Bette Bunker Richards on it. Instead he still wants my husband's death certificate! I told him he was a chauvinist to say the least and my name was Bette Bunker Richards no matter what my late husband's name may have been. Not good enough. If I want the passport I have to send him my husband's death certificate! Mind you I did not send them a marriage license to show I was ever married to Archie! All women ought to rise up and scream. 100 years ago my dear aunt was fighting for women's rights and I still get an idiot like this? There is something terribly wrong with this system that requires a woman to be identified as her husband's wife and nothing else. Thank you for letting me scream and stomp my feet. Sometimes I wonder what I walked all those picket lines for and filed all those law suits for when this is the result. Since I want the passport, I will definitely send the death certificate. I may also give my laughing husband a big raspberry as I am sure he is looking down from heaven and laughing his head off at this. He too was active in the women's rights movement in the 1970s but was a closet chauvinist at heart. He would have thought this was so funny. And as usual when I am stomping mad he would have been laughing like crazy while I was yelling and stomping around about it. I used to be a government worker and am well aware of the fact that most of them are intelligent, hard-working people. Why, oh why do I have to get idiots? Bette