Tie 'em and hold 'em
Hello again...despite what you might be thinking, today's post is not going to be about either being a cowboy or some kind of Western BDSM experience...so I'm sorry to disappoint anyone. No this is much less exciting but I do feel worthy of mentioning, it's about the struggle we all face with authorities and their apparent love affair with red tape i.e. a whole pyramid of stuff they come up with, to make even the simplest thing a long process.
As an example, I was in the local authority offices the other day, when a young couple came into the reception area, with obviously a very new baby. They explained to the receptionist, they wanted to register this new little person and produced a whole bunch of papers, which, they added, were from the hospital. Now you'd imagine, this was would be a remarkably simple thing to do..I know I did..but the receptionist obviously didn't agree, who asked them if they had completed something online as 'you can't just walk in here now'. Fortunately there is a bank of PC's along one wall of the reception area for public use, so they moved towards them only to hear the shrill voice of this awful woman say, 'you have to book time on a computer.' Now aside from me, the reception area was deserted...the father asked me if I was waiting to use one of the six PCS..when I said no, he asked the receptionist, if he could book one now. She then did that seriously annoying tutting thing and told him he would need to check online if there was a free PC. For a moment, we were all completely bemused, but then the young mother suggested to her partner, he could go the library next door and book a computer. So he zipped out the door, she sat down and waited, within minutes, he re-appeared and announced he had completed his mission and they could now begin the online form. They waded their way through the maze of repeating the same information several times that seems to be the hallmark of any official form. Suddenly the receptionist spoke out again, explaining they were almost out of time and they would need to save their progress, understandably, the father asked if they could pay to extend their time for a further ten minutes. She shook her head and said extra time does need to be booked in advance, by this point, I couldn't help but intervene, I walked over to her desk and asked how much this extra time would cost, she replied £1..so I took the coin from my purse and put it firmly down in front of her. 'OK, they've paid now, so they can stay on their until its finished.' I must have looked quite fierce because she waved them on, but then produced a form for me to complete as I had paid for the use of a computer in cash and that had to be recorded.
You will be relieved to know, as the online form was completed, the Registrar appeared, a lovely woman who on seeing the baby, asked if they were here to see her. The receptionist explained they didn't have an appointment, to which the Registrar shook her head and said, as she was free , why didn't they just pop into her office now ? Within less than ten minutes, they emerged triumphantly holding the Birth Certificate, the father offered me a £1 coin I had paid, I declined, saying, there would be just too much paperwork to complete if I took it ! They laughed and the receptionist scowled, no doubt trawling through her list of forms to find one, I would have to fill in before I would be allowed to leave !
Sadly, this is not an isolated or unusual case, I heard the tragic story of a woman who had been recently widowed, being informed by one particularly unpleasant employee, they would need her husbands' signature before they could process her claim for emergency financial assistance. So it goes on..even in my own experience, my daughter who was 3 years old at the time, received a letter from the local authority, asking her to register on the electoral roll. I assumed this was just a mistake, so I threw the letter away - fool that I am. As some weeks later, a court summons was sent to my daughter, as she had failed to complete the form...I took her to the Council offices and explained, they had sent it to the wrong person, as you had to be 18 to register to vote and she was 3 ! What followed was a ludicrous hour, spent with firstly, someone deciding she would have to fill in an opt out form...I gave it to her and she proceeded to draw a rather lovely picture of a cat. When this was deemed as 'unacceptable' a phone call was made and we were directed to another office to be seen by the sinister sounding, Supervisor. A rather harassed looking man came in and peered at me over his glasses, he started to ask me if I was trying to make some kind of political statement by breaking the law...as soon as he used my name, I explained that wasn't me..'well, where is she then ?' he snapped..I pointed at my daughter who had now fallen asleep on her chair. He looked at me, then her, then back at me..he told me we could go and apologised for wasting my time.
More recently. owing to a whole heap of circumstances, I found myself again at the Council office, waiting in their housing department. I watched as people who declared themselves as homeless, were almost routinely told to fill in copious amounts of forms, which, once handed in, were told to wait, only for another council employee to appear an hour later, to explain the case had been examined, but the applicant wasn't homeless enough to qualify for help. On one occasion, a young man explained he could not read or write very well, when he was presented with his forms, he was told to 'do his best.' As I had nothing happening, I offered to help him and together, we waded through the paperwork...when he handed in the completed forms, the receptionist eyed him suspiciously before asking how he had done the work. He explained I had helped and yes..you've guessed it...we then had three more pages thrust at us to fill in because of this help !!!
So who's idea was it to make everything so complicated and labour intensive ? There are some who are convinced, the whole thing is just a way of employing a lot of people, which in turn, makes the Council office feel impressive- after all, if they have a huge staff, they must be very important. But the vast amount of money spent on ridiculously long forms and people to read them, could surely be better spent ! I have been tied up in red tape for some months now, the amount of paperwork I have filled in, would make 'War and Peace' look like a tabloid newspaper..and yet..my original request to the Council has not even be answered yet !
To be honest, I long for the time, when life was a much simpler business..which I know makes me sound old, but, in this instance, I really don't care. When I was applying for jobs recently, I had to upload my CV online which would allegedly save me time..it didn't...once the CV was attached, I was then re-directed to another page containing a form, which asked all the questions on the CV...so I had to type it all out. Oh for the days when you posted one to an employer !
Finally, I am left wondering why all this red tape is necessary, it's not cost effective and just wastes everyone's time...but I suppose it does mean all those people who just love to say 'oooh you can't do that unless you've filled in the form'....have jobs, so that's a good thing....I suppose.
Anyway, I hope your week goes smoothly, sadly for me, I have to go back to the Council office tomorrow, so I hope you wish me well..I have two pens in my bag and every possible version of ID..so as it's Monday tomorrow, I am hoping to be out by Thursday...all being well, I shall be back..until then...
Take care out there xx
As an example, I was in the local authority offices the other day, when a young couple came into the reception area, with obviously a very new baby. They explained to the receptionist, they wanted to register this new little person and produced a whole bunch of papers, which, they added, were from the hospital. Now you'd imagine, this was would be a remarkably simple thing to do..I know I did..but the receptionist obviously didn't agree, who asked them if they had completed something online as 'you can't just walk in here now'. Fortunately there is a bank of PC's along one wall of the reception area for public use, so they moved towards them only to hear the shrill voice of this awful woman say, 'you have to book time on a computer.' Now aside from me, the reception area was deserted...the father asked me if I was waiting to use one of the six PCS..when I said no, he asked the receptionist, if he could book one now. She then did that seriously annoying tutting thing and told him he would need to check online if there was a free PC. For a moment, we were all completely bemused, but then the young mother suggested to her partner, he could go the library next door and book a computer. So he zipped out the door, she sat down and waited, within minutes, he re-appeared and announced he had completed his mission and they could now begin the online form. They waded their way through the maze of repeating the same information several times that seems to be the hallmark of any official form. Suddenly the receptionist spoke out again, explaining they were almost out of time and they would need to save their progress, understandably, the father asked if they could pay to extend their time for a further ten minutes. She shook her head and said extra time does need to be booked in advance, by this point, I couldn't help but intervene, I walked over to her desk and asked how much this extra time would cost, she replied £1..so I took the coin from my purse and put it firmly down in front of her. 'OK, they've paid now, so they can stay on their until its finished.' I must have looked quite fierce because she waved them on, but then produced a form for me to complete as I had paid for the use of a computer in cash and that had to be recorded.
You will be relieved to know, as the online form was completed, the Registrar appeared, a lovely woman who on seeing the baby, asked if they were here to see her. The receptionist explained they didn't have an appointment, to which the Registrar shook her head and said, as she was free , why didn't they just pop into her office now ? Within less than ten minutes, they emerged triumphantly holding the Birth Certificate, the father offered me a £1 coin I had paid, I declined, saying, there would be just too much paperwork to complete if I took it ! They laughed and the receptionist scowled, no doubt trawling through her list of forms to find one, I would have to fill in before I would be allowed to leave !
Sadly, this is not an isolated or unusual case, I heard the tragic story of a woman who had been recently widowed, being informed by one particularly unpleasant employee, they would need her husbands' signature before they could process her claim for emergency financial assistance. So it goes on..even in my own experience, my daughter who was 3 years old at the time, received a letter from the local authority, asking her to register on the electoral roll. I assumed this was just a mistake, so I threw the letter away - fool that I am. As some weeks later, a court summons was sent to my daughter, as she had failed to complete the form...I took her to the Council offices and explained, they had sent it to the wrong person, as you had to be 18 to register to vote and she was 3 ! What followed was a ludicrous hour, spent with firstly, someone deciding she would have to fill in an opt out form...I gave it to her and she proceeded to draw a rather lovely picture of a cat. When this was deemed as 'unacceptable' a phone call was made and we were directed to another office to be seen by the sinister sounding, Supervisor. A rather harassed looking man came in and peered at me over his glasses, he started to ask me if I was trying to make some kind of political statement by breaking the law...as soon as he used my name, I explained that wasn't me..'well, where is she then ?' he snapped..I pointed at my daughter who had now fallen asleep on her chair. He looked at me, then her, then back at me..he told me we could go and apologised for wasting my time.
More recently. owing to a whole heap of circumstances, I found myself again at the Council office, waiting in their housing department. I watched as people who declared themselves as homeless, were almost routinely told to fill in copious amounts of forms, which, once handed in, were told to wait, only for another council employee to appear an hour later, to explain the case had been examined, but the applicant wasn't homeless enough to qualify for help. On one occasion, a young man explained he could not read or write very well, when he was presented with his forms, he was told to 'do his best.' As I had nothing happening, I offered to help him and together, we waded through the paperwork...when he handed in the completed forms, the receptionist eyed him suspiciously before asking how he had done the work. He explained I had helped and yes..you've guessed it...we then had three more pages thrust at us to fill in because of this help !!!
So who's idea was it to make everything so complicated and labour intensive ? There are some who are convinced, the whole thing is just a way of employing a lot of people, which in turn, makes the Council office feel impressive- after all, if they have a huge staff, they must be very important. But the vast amount of money spent on ridiculously long forms and people to read them, could surely be better spent ! I have been tied up in red tape for some months now, the amount of paperwork I have filled in, would make 'War and Peace' look like a tabloid newspaper..and yet..my original request to the Council has not even be answered yet !
To be honest, I long for the time, when life was a much simpler business..which I know makes me sound old, but, in this instance, I really don't care. When I was applying for jobs recently, I had to upload my CV online which would allegedly save me time..it didn't...once the CV was attached, I was then re-directed to another page containing a form, which asked all the questions on the CV...so I had to type it all out. Oh for the days when you posted one to an employer !
Finally, I am left wondering why all this red tape is necessary, it's not cost effective and just wastes everyone's time...but I suppose it does mean all those people who just love to say 'oooh you can't do that unless you've filled in the form'....have jobs, so that's a good thing....I suppose.
Anyway, I hope your week goes smoothly, sadly for me, I have to go back to the Council office tomorrow, so I hope you wish me well..I have two pens in my bag and every possible version of ID..so as it's Monday tomorrow, I am hoping to be out by Thursday...all being well, I shall be back..until then...
Take care out there xx
