Lesson on Bureaucracy
Today, as a family we ran headlong into the meaning of bureaucracy.
1 a: a body of nonelective government officials b: an administrative policy-making group
2: government characterized by specialization of functions, adherence to fixed rules, and a hierarchy of authority
3: a system of administration marked by officialism, red tape, and proliferation
Apparently, American children need photo ID to travel to Hawaii on a plane. Expired passports wouldn’t suffice so we had to go to the CT passport office to get expedited passports for the children. You can get passport cards for the children, however they are only valid for travel by land or sea.
I arrived 15 minutes early for our appointment with the children and stood in line in the queue outside the building. My husband was 10 minutes behind me due to a traffic jam on I95. We were let into the passport office in small groups and had to pass through security. It was here we had our first encounter with bureaucracy.
This Federal security person was a combination of Mexican Immigrant meets “No Soup for you”, Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi. My husband called me on my cell as I was entering the building. I wanted to tell him to park in the carpark behind the theater but the Mr Federal Security says “No cell phones allowed. I am going to confiscate any cell phones turned on.” I am trying to tell my husband where to park and the guard is tapping me on the shoulder. You must be outside to take the call, and go to the back of the line. I hang up.
Now we pass through security aka airport style and we enter the waiting room.
“Where are your forms?” the guard asks.
“My husband has them,” I say.
“Then you may not get into the next line until he arrives,” he says.
“My husband is parking his car,” I say.
I get in line.
A few minutes later my husband arrives and is going through security.
The guard looks at me and motions me to come to him with his finger.
“Where is your husband?”
“He is around the corner…going through the security, 2 meters away!”
“You must go and sit down and when the forms are in your hand you can go in the line.”
My husband comes in.
I told him I was cut out of the line and then the guard says to him.
“Give the forms to your wife”
He looks at me and tells me to go to the end of the line.
I got back to the end of the line and then a guy in the line invites me to come back to my spot.
I go.
The guard says, “I decide where you are in line.”
I didn’t move.
Anyway…I’m thinking…all sorts of things about bureaucracy and how annoying and self empowered these little bureaucrats are…and they should go out and make some money for the taxpayers instead of annoying tax payers etc…and a lady comes in. She sits down and starts filling out forms on her chair.
The guard asked her, “Have you filled out your forms?”
She says no. He says, “You can’t fill out forms on the chair. You must go to the bench.”
And she APOLOGIZES!!!! I couldn’t believe it. Then another guy in the line starts telling me how having an attitude with bureaucrats is bad and how his friend missed his flight at the airport and you want to get your passport…right?!!
I just want to say FIGHT BACK, PEOPLE! But I stay obediently in line.
The next minute the guard comes over and orders me to stand back 1 foot as I was violating the privacy act by being too close to the person in front.
And this is America!
I wouldn’t last 2 minutes in the army.
Luckily I had all the correct pieces of paper to satisfy the passport officials (who were very nice by the way)
The incident generated a lot of questions by my two children. Speed wanted to know the difference between a Federal and “regular” policeman. Chuckles wanted to know what a bureaucracy was!! Why do you have to go through security at the office? Why was the guy ordering everyone about? Why are you so stressed out, Mommy?
….and of course the added bonus. Our passport fee just to renew the children’s passports was $310!
May 28th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
That little pompous bureaucrat who couldn’t string three words of english together without sounding like he needed to be hooked on phonics was fully in control of his 3 sq meters of the world. The only place he obvioulsy had any semblance of authority. With the US government now the largest employer in this newly socialist country of ours, we better get used to uneducated underachievers telling us when and where to go to the bathroom.