Every individual authorized to work in the US, including students, should apply for a “social security number (SSN)“. I, a research specialist, am no exception.

Unlike the personal ID in Taiwan, in the US, even a “non-resident alien” like me can, and should, have an SSN in order to be taxed, and be covered by health insurances. In fact, even illegal immigrants, who are obviously not eligible for an SSN, should acquire an “individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN)” in order to …… be taxed.

That’s a weird design. It is said that:

having an ITIN will allow you to file your taxes without fear of deportation. The ITIN is not used to enforce immigration laws. The IRS, or Internal Revenue Service respects taxpayers privacy and does not share information about ITINs to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Immigration Services. (*1)

That sounds benign. And I can understand that the federal government wants to extract as much tax money from the illegal immigrants as possible before they are deported. But……

Why would an illegal immigrant want to be taxed in the first place?

Whatever. That’s none of my business.

The nearest social security administration office is in Trenton, the capital of the state of New Jersey.

Upon hearing that I’m going to Trenton, a PhD student in the lab, A.A., gave me a heads-up:

It’s not a good place to go. You wouldn’t want to go there after sunset, even if you go there by car. It’s strange even in the morning

Judging from what I see in Taiwan, a capital is equal to a business center, which spells prosperity. How can there be a capital city which is not a good place to go? This statement is self-contradictory, andcounter-intuitive!

But I took A.A.’s advice anyway, and headed for Trenton right after lunch.

Even if Trenton is not a good place to go, people still have to go there if they are to travel to other states by train. Because Trenton train station is the hub for railway transportation in New Jersey.

A train travel from Princeton to other states is quite tortuous. First, one has to take a branch line dinky from a station inside Princeton University (the picture above) to the nearest station, Princeton Junction, on the main branch that runs through New Jersey. Then, one takes another train from Princeton Junction to Trenton. Finally, one transfers from Trenton to other states.

It can take much time to wait for a train. Fortunately, there are waiting rooms at all three stations mentioned above (Princeton, Princeton Junction, Trenton).  I believe the waiting room is a standard facility for any train station along the east coast. The waiting rooms are equipped with heaters. Even if there’s no heater, I’m gracious enough to have the walls block out the chilling wind.

Before the day I went for the SSN, I’ve already been to Trenton station to transfer to Washington DC to attend the 2017 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. I didn’t step out of the station then, and what I saw inside the station was … normal, nothing strange. The station itself was bright and clean, the color scheme was agreeable, and there were McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.

However, if I thought just a bit more deeply, I would have noticed what’s wrong with this train station.

It’s too simple to be the train station of a capital.

Many of the MRT (*2) stations in Taipei are comparable to Trenton train station in terms of the size of the building and the complexity of the structure, if not the number of tracks. And Taipei Main Station, the counterpart of Trenton train station, is much more massive and prosperous than Trenton station, featuring 3 underground metro mall catering to all walks of life.

That said, Trenton station itself doesn’t look that bad. At least it’s not a station that I wouldn’t want to revisit. There’s even some public art display in front of the station, which seems to be well maintained.

What can go wrong with the city?

Well, the wrongness condenses into tangible forms once one gets out of the station.

Something’s not quite right……

Facing the north, one sees a building that houses several government agencies. The building looks nice, and the glass windows are well-polished. But to the left, there is a cemetery. Although westerners don’t repulse cemetery or graveyards the way easterners do, the neighborhood around the cemetery wouldn’t be super prosperous nonetheless.

Sadly, the social security administration is not in this building, but in the opposite direction. So I had to head to the south. I crossed an iron bridge with litters all around, and the first buildings I saw other than a gas station looked like this:

They looked nice, but I had a strong gut feeling that they, at least the blue and red ones, were empty. The scenes got worse as I walk further southward. Some buildings were apparently empty, with broken windows or doors not held on the hinges. Even some seemingly occupied houses had porches with cracked doorsteps or bent railings.

There was even a 7 or 10-story building completely empty and out of business. There was no curtain or anything that blocked the windows, so I could tell there was no interior in the building at all.

A.A. was right, this place is weird.

I only took one picture of the depressed streets. Even if I took more, they wouldn’t be pleasant to look at. I think this single picture is enough to illustrate the ominous air permeating this part of Trenton.

Logically, it wouldn’t be surprising if a zombie shambles out of the shadow of an abandoned house. But I would still freak out if there’s one.

Fortunately enough, I didn’t have to turn into some dark alleys on this journey. Walking straight along the major road (I wouldn’t call it a thoroughfare for its depressed status), I arrived at a supermarket, and the social security administration was right next to the supermarket.

I can’t help but imagine that if there’s a zombie apocalypse, this supermarket would become the last citadel of humanity, just like what we always see in the movies. Some people might be trapped in the office building, and they would definitely risk their lives to reach the supermarket, where food is aplenty. And those in the supermarket would have a hard choice whether to accommodate people from the office building, because the food supply, though aplenty, is finite……

The social security officer handed back my passport along with a receipt. I left the office and headed back to the train station, walking as fast as possible, but not so fast that I might look suspicious.

It is said that,

Knowledge is power, Franc(e)-is Bacon

As a research specialist in Princeton University, I might have some power, but the power is effective only against sentient human beings, not zombies, nor, more practically speaking, guns and bullets.

Trenton is not a good place to go.

And I learned later that this is true for many of the capitals of the states in the US.

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*1: https://www.taxsamaritan.com/itin/
*2: MRT = mass rapid transport, the local public transport system in Taipei City and New Taipei City. Similar to the subway system in some major cities in the US