It is tough to be a citizen

[houseelf]

I have spent countless hours this week wading through the rules of a myriad of bureacracies: the insurance company, the bank, our taxes, the DMV. The worst part about it is getting routed through some automated attendant for hours until you get to a human being who claims to have no responsibility for this area whatsoever. This kind of B.S. takes up hours of time... Dealing with all of this is analgous to waiting in line in the Soviet Union during the Cold War for basic goods. What have we created in this society? I always think about the frail and infirm who don't have the energy and resources to take care of this kind of relevant minutia. This fires me up to get to the bottom of everything.



I wonder what the unmarried resident does when he or she doesn't have someone to take care of student loans, insurance company claims which are always rejected the first time as a matter of policy, driver's license renewal, tax obligations, etc.



It is difficult to be a citizen.



Kelly

[Phoebe]

I completely agree with you, Kelly! These automated systems are supposed to direct flow of communication in an efficient way, but usually end up making things more difficult. I usually end up calling places two or three times to get to the right place when all I want to do is talk to someone.



This past week I think I spent five hours on the phone trying to get things accomplished with banking, vehicle registration and student loan business. It drove me crazy. It seems like every year of my life requires more responsibility and more bureaucracy. Sometimes I long for the days when all I had to worry about was attending class and hanging out with my friends. I tell my husband all the time I feel like I am his secretary. It is a role I am not happy about, but it falls easy into my schedule.



Jennifer

[DCJenn]

In DC and other big cities there are companies whose entire purpose is to wait in lines and fill out forms for people. If we were smart, we'd all pool our resources and start them in our respective towns!



Jenn