Here comes the "ballsy" part. The next morning, dressed in the suit I had worn for my law-firm interview, I found my way to the offices of the State Registrar for Vital Statistics, where I asked to speak with someone in charge. Within minutes the Registrar herself walked up to the counter—something I couldn’t quite picture happening in a state like New York or Texas or Florida, where the top official would no doubt be too busy or feel too self-important to meet with anyone lacking important connections.