Renunciation

I went to Bern this morning to renew my passport.  Yesterday, in order to make this as painless as possible I accessed the US Embassy website to print out the forms, make a reservation and make sure I had everything I needed.  While there, the page titled “Renunciations” caught my eye so I explored.  Before your thoughts begin to wander, let me be clear here.  I may bitch.  I may complain.  I may laud all of the wonderful aspects about living here (compared to the US).  But I will never, ever, renounce my US citizenship.  I fully understand why some would do this.  Those who’ve gained citizenship via the fluke of Jus soli and never really lived there aren’t really Americans anyway.  To them, it’s a convenience and they just need to decide if the convenience outweighs the inconveniences, most of which you cannot appreciate unless you’ve lived outside the US as an American citizen.  But people like me, or Lisa, or even Paige, who doesn’t really remember living in the US, we’ll always be Americans.  I honestly don't think it would be possible to renounce it.  Maybe legally but not in the heart.  It’s a roots thing I guess.  Anyhow, if you’re curious, it’s a nine step process, the first three of which are, in one form or another, checks to make sure that you really, really want to go through with it.    One of the FAQ’s is, “What privileges of my U.S. citizenship can I retain after I renounce?”  I wonder how “Frequent” this question really is.  Their response is basically, “None of them you stupid shit”.  They leave out the last two words and they’re a bit more polite but that is their answer.   They also include the subtle comment, “ Such a question indicates a lack of full understanding of renunciation”.  I bet the embassy staff had fun answering that one.  For those still certain that they want to go through with it, the cost is 2,350 USD, which can be paid in cash (USD or CH), credit card or cashier’s check drawn on a US bank.  Is it just me or does it seem somehow wrong to renounce one’s citizenship via credit card?   Anyway, thanks to my advance legwork the renewal process this morning took only 15 minutes.  Everyone was very polite and helpful with the only annoyance being that I couldn’t bring my iPad into the embassy.  They had conveniently worked out an arrangement with a bakery down the street to hold such devices for a small fee but it was annoying to have to do so.  I went with the flow, though, and should be rewarded in a few weeks with a nice shiny new passport good for another ten years.  I wonder, though, would they have been so nice if I had been there to renounce?