Last month I went to the offices of Colonial Life to follow up on a possible job lead my dad had initiated. They were interested in talking to me further about working with them on employee enrollment. The reason they gave me this opportunity was due to my Spanish abilities. Having someone who could speak directly to native Spanish speakers and guide them through the enrollment process could be quite valuable. This would fit perfectly and give me the flexibility to work on our photography business at the same time.

We had a nice talk and Michelle outlined the steps I would have to take to be a part of their team. There were four steps: 1) Complete the application for a license with the state 2) Get fingerprinted 3) Complete 40 hours of training 4) Pass the licensing exam. I had done step one and am working on the training. I should have done the fingerprinting a couple weeks ago, but had not.

So today I went down to the Sheriff’s office, took a number, and waited in line to be fingerprinted. It was a long wait as their glacial pace closely resembled that of their cousins over at the DMV–which I need to visit soon as well. But once I stepped into the office, it was actually fun to do the fingerprinting. It never occurred to me that it would be digital! I had visions of an ink pad and walking out of there with stained fingertips. Nope. The machine was state of the art and the man doing the printing knew what he was doing. First they scan your 4 fingers together on the left hand, then the thumb. They then repeat this on the right hand. After this, they scan all 10 fingers individually, rolling them from side to side to ensure a complete print. I liked watching the patterns of my fingerprint appear on the screen and it was easy to see why no two fingerprints are identical. Afterward, he printed (with a laser printer) my prints on the official FBI card and I was on my way.

They might be lacking it customer service and behind in other ways, but that was cool! Plus, now Big Brother can watch over me a bit more easily.