> Most of the clients at a Social Security office are applying for disability payments (SSI) or relatives of people who are doing that.<
The only time I visited a SSA office was several years back. The place was packed and I was one of the few who spoke English.
EC
Most of the people I saw were Hispanic. There were a few Chinese families. Not one other person in the waiting room appeared to be over 50.
The place had extreme security, including entrance screening stations, visible armed guards, and caseworkers in locked rooms behind bullet-resistant glass. WTF? The wait times were considerable even with a large number of caseworkers. The caseworkers were busy too. It was a very tense-looking operation.
In contrast, I had business at an SSA office many years previously. That place was an ordinary open office setup with clients and caseworkers seated at a desk across from each other. There was no waiting room or any visible security forces. The clients were all white people, quite obviously over 60. The caseworkers seemed busy then too. It was a very low-key operation.
A lot of big changes in a few decades. Not good ones to my eyes.