March 17, 2010
Sopranos inspired question: has anyone ever lost their ID on vacation?
I was watching Sopranos season 6 today and early in the season Tony Soprano gets shot by his uncle, Junior. While in the hospital he starts hallucinating that he's on a business trip and loses his wallet / briefcase (someone at the bar grabs his stuff and he gets the other guy's briefcase / wallet). With no ID he can't fly home, check into a hotel, or pick up money from Western Union. He is kind of forced to start using the other guys credit card for a hotel room.
This kind of thing must happen in real life. I know if you're abroad you go to your embassy - has anyone ever gone to their embassy after losing their passport and all other ID? This is why you're supposed to have a photocopy of your passport somewhere but I guess the embassy should be bale to look things up without that.
What I don't know is what you'd do if it happened in your own country. Tony was dreaming he was in Florida. If he couldn't fly home what were his options with no ID? The only thing I could think of was going to the police (but could they really do anything?) or having someone mail you a backup ID of sorts (but where would they mail it to if you couldn't get a hotel room cause you had no ID?).
So does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this kind of thing?
Posted by James Trotta at March 17, 2010 11:16 PM
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I dropped my wallet in the hills above Zihuatenejo, losing everything of importance. The nearest US consulate (a storefront in Ixtapa) confirmed my identity and gave me a Letter of Transit, the same legal document for which Peter Lorre (as the "cut-rate parasite," Ugarte) gets killed in "Casablanca." My experience was much smoother than his; it worked like a charm. TSA at Los Angeles airport didn't bat an eye when I re-entered the country.
Posted by: duckshoe at March 18, 2010 2:21 AM