Ask a question of one person, get passed to another. That second person also can’t provide you with the piece of paper you seek. Instead, she sends you to another building/department. The person there who tries to help must ask another person.
And then you must fill out a form. The purpose here is to make sure there is A File so that the paperwork monster can be satisfied.
I came to this second building for a piece of paper. The purpose of this piece of paper is so that I may return to the original building to get the actual piece of paper I need. After filling out the form I am told to Wait. I’m given a beeper, like it is Friday night at the steakhouse.
When the thing buzzes I look around for the person who’s turn it is to try and help me. That’s down a hall, around a corner and down another hall.
“It is kind of confusing,” a regular says.
More paperwork is filled out. The net result is zero. Seems all of this paperwork can’t improve on the situation. But!
At this point I make phone calls because, really, verification is needed.
I learn I can download a form. If it is filled out, faxed off, filled out by others and faxed back to me I can then take it to a third building across town.
You might think I’m trying to replace a birth certificate and social security card simultaneously. I am not. Comparatively this is nothing that traumatic. Or it shouldn’t be. I can’t imagine the chore a task like that must be.
And, now, a picture of a man who can’t park:
