20-IX-1974.
I was issued a new passport (the oldest one I preserved, punched through though*). It was a neat trick I pulled there, using a picture I made myself (dunno if she or mom took the shots of me), where I have the long hair, probably the longest I ever had, and that split beard I was wearing, knowing that the police didn't control the passport pictures that much.
The point was that while the whole rock'n'roll, long hair etc wasn't exactly forbidden, as we were a country of vast freedoms compared with those of eastern bloc, it wasn't exactly regular either, and us hippy-like guys were always suspect of either being downright criminals, anti-social elements or at least doing drugs (which I never did, really). So a trick was devised to keep us in trouble, called "the picture on your ID". They'd approach you any time of night, when you were returning from damage (i.e. evening/night fun of any kind), asked you for your ID and then pointed out that your picture doesn't match your face (and on 01-II-1972. they did it en masse). Depending on your reaction, you may get anything between "you need to get a new ID or else you may get in trouble" and really getting in trouble, including a night at the HQ with possibly some beating if you would give them attitude, aka "disturbing an official person in performing his duties".
The regulations mentioned only that the forehead and ears had to be visible, which I arranged, and that the picture had to be made in good light, bright background and to show the whole head as seen straight from up front - all of which I satisfied. Of course, there was no way they'd allow a long haired picture in the ID in the first place, thus closing the circle and putting you at any constable's mercy.
So this picture ended in my passport. Next I went to get a new ID, as my old picture from that 1972 ID was getting really obsolete. When I was asked to present the picture, the clerks, perhaps in police uniforms (as cops they were, in charge of IDs, in the police HQ building by the new bridge), weren't too happy and made some general remarks about everything being fine but the pictures. I feigned naivete, something about "I can make new pictures, no problem, just tell me what did I do wrong - is it out of focus, or bad light, or should the face be larger... I don't see anything wrong with it, you know, and besides it's the same one I already have in my passport, here, look, just got it today". To which they just looked at each other, sighed and accepted the pictures.
If this led to tightening the (criteria at) the passport office, hey, I never heard anyone complain and it actually worked for me. Wasn't me who invented the system, I only made this little hole in it.
And the new ID served me well in the following years - never had trouble with the cops. They'd try the old spiel, but seeing my likeness on the ID always threw them off balance; perhaps they thought I was a son of someone important if I was allowed such a picture, though not from budžin bulevar, the adress is right there... doesn't matter, it worked. Just once it didn't, because I forgot it in the other jeans, but I knew the number off the top of my heart, as it contained 1984 and had a 44 or 99 before or after it, and if the young cop wasn't satisfied with the barefoot suspect's self-confidence, the HQ were at the other end of the street, we could go and check. (Yes, I walked across town and back barefoot at night several times that or next summer, just for kicks)(and was suspect for making weird movements with my butt while walking across the city square - that's because my underpants went their own way around my hips and it was getting unpleasant, so I was trying to straighten them)
----
* the trouble with this story is that I first wrote under 2nd of june 1975, because that's the issue date on the passport, and on the ID it's 19th of september 1974. So I can't figure out what is it that I misremember. Even if I had another passport before this one, why would I make a new one less than a year later? And this passport was issued for a period of two years, then was extended twice five, so it lasted me until september 1984 (I applied for the last extension after a couple of months' delay).
Mentions: 01-II-1972., budžin bulevar, in serbian
13-XII-2019 - 31-X-2025