Proof of residence

I've lived outside New England before. In fact, I lived outside of NE for 10 years. Never have I encountered a utility situation quite like that here in MS. However, my Dad informs me that the system here is common in several parts of the US. Here in MS, you can not just pick up the phone, call the utility company and have your utilities turned on. Oh no. Here, they want you to show up in person with a government-issued photo ID, a check for a deposit AND proof of residence. This last requirement is what caused me all sorts of headaches. I knew about the requirement for proof of residence prior to moving down. My landlord had told me that she expected me to have the utilities transferred to my name on or before the day I moved in. How I was supposed to do this before, I'm not sure. In any case, we had 2 phone conversations and an email about the need for her to provide me with a signed copy of the lease so that I could take care of this. I suggested that she either scan and email the lease BEFORE I moved (when I had access to a printer) or leave a signed copy of the lease in the apartment (I knew prior to the move that she was having someone else meet me with the key). No copy of the lease was left in the apartment. Therefore, I called her and told her that because she didn't hold up her end of the bargain (getting me a copy of the signed lease), the utilities would have to stay in her name until she provided me with a copy of the lease AND I could get sufficient time off of work to go to the utility companies and take care of it. She then responded by emailing me a copy of the lease. This did me precisely no good because my printer was on a moving truck and wasn't scheduled to be delivered till the following week. So I called her again asking what she though I could do with an emailed copy of a lease and no way to print it. She then arranged for "friends" at the utility company to overlook the proof of residence requirement. So I got my utilities turned on. However, without a copy of the lease, I couldn't get internet service, couldn't transfer my plates to MS plates or obtain a MS drivers license. Oh, and I couldn't even rent a PO Box without proof of residence either. Needless to say, my first day in MS had me in tears of anger and frustration more than once.