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| - After driving by one day and seeing the line, I started searching online for advice on when to go. I was so happy I checked yelp to see there are actually two doors. Suite 150 is benefits, and the door to the left (Suite 100 I think) is for cards. The cards side is about half as busy as the benefits side.
Since they open at 9am, I decided to just show up at 7:45am and camp outside on a Wednesday. I brought a towel, book, and a bottle of water. Some people brought pop-up tailgating/camping chairs. I was number 5 in line showing up that early. Not many people came after me - maybe 3 people? It wasn't until 8:20am when more people started showing up steadily, then around 8:45am in masses. By the time they opened at 9am, the line was around the building. If you show up right when they open, you'll be standing outside a while. It's not because there aren't chairs inside, but the machines you check into right when you walk in the door create a very slow moving line to get inside.
I was walking back to my car at 9:07am, so my wait time was 75 minutes. The folks you're in line with will provide plenty of entertainment for you. The guy next to me who kept using a piece of paper as his telephone and talking to himself about how he's hungry and wants to grill himself "one of them anaconda snakes," made me want to start a live tweet from the Social Security Office. People were still checking in to get numbers when I was leaving and squeezing past them. The benefits side was a zoo.
It's the typical government office wait, and it sucks. It's totally a one star thing. However, since there seems to be some sort of benchmark set for waiting, everything else ran smoothly. I came prepared with my paperwork filled out and more ID than you could possibly imagine. Around 8:30/8:45am, someone actually came outside and passed applications for a card out to the line.They opened promptly and started calling numbers. The security guards directed people as they moved inside to get their number, talking pretty sternly and authoritatively which helped move people quickly. The window I got was nice and efficient, did what I needed, and got me out quickly.
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