For anyone reading this, let me just explain why this was such a hassle to me and probably to everyone else yesterday.

This is not an exaggeration:

I went to three banks, five bodegas with a "Notary" sign on the door, one pharmacy with a "Notary" sign, one UPS store with a "Notary" sign, one government assistance application help store, one FedEx store, and one H&R Block that was closed even though the sign said they opened at 9 am. I ended up having to go back to my own neighborhood, a 30 minute drive in traffic, just to get a document notarized which should have been done right there for free in the County Clerk's office.

At all of those places there was either actually no notary on staff, or the notary was coming in hours later. It was 9 am and I needed something notarized urgently.

What if I were elderly? What if I were disabled? Or what if I was simply someone who was in a rush and needed a government service that should be provided to me by law? It seems like such a trivial matter but it's not when you really need it.

On top of this, the people in the County Clerk's office were unfathomably rude. The woman at the counter said she couldn't do it and directed me to a supervisor, who practically laughed in my face. I asked to speak to someone else and a man came out and practically laughed in my face and told me to come back at him when I can "quote statute." So I'm going to write a letter of complaint.