You can rail against intrusive government, sticking its nose into your bedroom or boardroom. Or overbearing government, forcing you to have clean tailpipes or clean speech. Or big government, with obscure agencies such as the Indian Arts and Crafts Board or the Japan-United States Friendship Commission. Foolish, dangerous or useless, unless you want protection or validation for any of those things. Then it's not Big Brother, but Big Hero.
Certain agencies can also be whipping posts, though it can depend on which side of the political wind you're on. It wasn't too long ago that conservatives loathed the Supreme Court and loved the FBI, with liberals having the opposite perception. Of course all it takes is a few headlines and flips of the calendar and it's the other way around. As with the weather, wait long enough and it will likely change again.
That said, there are some perennial punching bags regardless of your political persuasion. The Department of Motor Vehicles and the Social Security Administration are just two bad boys where rightness or leftness is immaterial. No one likes waiting in actual or virtual lines, and both of these entities have a reputation of being the gold-plated standard for that annoyance. Tell someone you have to engage with either, and they will likely react as if you've just told them you have a terminal disease and offer their sympathy. So perhaps because of that perception I was more than pleasantly surprised in my recent encounters with each. True, it's a low bar, but within the world of the dammed that they inhabit I was actually downright impressed.
I was forced into the arms of the DMV by virtue of the fact that my license was due for renewal. As it has always been, the process is fairly straight forward: you fill out an application, and bring it and the supporting documentation to the DMV office for validation and a photo. But it's that "visit the DMV" part that can be scary. Not scary as in "guy jumps out with hockey mask and machete," but scary as in "waste most of my day." And in fact when I got there the parking lot was already full, a bad omen. Inside I could see people queuing up through the grimy windows. Sigh. I left my car and trudged inside to join the line.
But a surprise: it moved quickly. The clerk was quick and efficient. She checked my paperwork, then sent me to another window where there was no one waiting. That clerk scanned my documents, took my picture and sent me to yet another window. A third clerk reviewed all, took my credit card, printed out a receipt and temporary license and sent me on my way. Total elapsed time inside? Less than 30 minutes. If I had known I would have some much extra time I would have put a cake in the oven.
Round two was with the Social Security Administration. Some kind of mixup caused me to get a form letter saying I had to go online to correct an error in my last filing. I did so, but hit a dead end in the system. Up popped a box asking me to fax (fax!) a letter to them with a copy of the form giving me problems. I assumed it would be well into the 2020 presidential campaign before I heard back.
But barely a week later my phone rang with the caller ID being the SSA. I warily picked it up. A youngish-sounding gentlemen informed me he was in possession of my missive, and had the account in front of me. He said he found the problem and corrected it. He asked me to log in and give it a go. And sure enough, it all worked. He asked if he could do anything else. Aside from solving the problems in Washington, I told him thanks, he had done quite enough.
Small triumphs? For sure. The way we would hope government should respond? Absolutely. A portend of future interactions? One can only hope. With so many systems and models in place in the private sector aimed at better customer service, perhaps it was inevitable that some of it would rub off on the bureaucratic dinosaurs. It almost makes me want to call the IRS just to say hi.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford tries to file the correct paperwork. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Certain agencies can also be whipping posts, though it can depend on which side of the political wind you're on. It wasn't too long ago that conservatives loathed the Supreme Court and loved the FBI, with liberals having the opposite perception. Of course all it takes is a few headlines and flips of the calendar and it's the other way around. As with the weather, wait long enough and it will likely change again.
That said, there are some perennial punching bags regardless of your political persuasion. The Department of Motor Vehicles and the Social Security Administration are just two bad boys where rightness or leftness is immaterial. No one likes waiting in actual or virtual lines, and both of these entities have a reputation of being the gold-plated standard for that annoyance. Tell someone you have to engage with either, and they will likely react as if you've just told them you have a terminal disease and offer their sympathy. So perhaps because of that perception I was more than pleasantly surprised in my recent encounters with each. True, it's a low bar, but within the world of the dammed that they inhabit I was actually downright impressed.
I was forced into the arms of the DMV by virtue of the fact that my license was due for renewal. As it has always been, the process is fairly straight forward: you fill out an application, and bring it and the supporting documentation to the DMV office for validation and a photo. But it's that "visit the DMV" part that can be scary. Not scary as in "guy jumps out with hockey mask and machete," but scary as in "waste most of my day." And in fact when I got there the parking lot was already full, a bad omen. Inside I could see people queuing up through the grimy windows. Sigh. I left my car and trudged inside to join the line.
But a surprise: it moved quickly. The clerk was quick and efficient. She checked my paperwork, then sent me to another window where there was no one waiting. That clerk scanned my documents, took my picture and sent me to yet another window. A third clerk reviewed all, took my credit card, printed out a receipt and temporary license and sent me on my way. Total elapsed time inside? Less than 30 minutes. If I had known I would have some much extra time I would have put a cake in the oven.
Round two was with the Social Security Administration. Some kind of mixup caused me to get a form letter saying I had to go online to correct an error in my last filing. I did so, but hit a dead end in the system. Up popped a box asking me to fax (fax!) a letter to them with a copy of the form giving me problems. I assumed it would be well into the 2020 presidential campaign before I heard back.
But barely a week later my phone rang with the caller ID being the SSA. I warily picked it up. A youngish-sounding gentlemen informed me he was in possession of my missive, and had the account in front of me. He said he found the problem and corrected it. He asked me to log in and give it a go. And sure enough, it all worked. He asked if he could do anything else. Aside from solving the problems in Washington, I told him thanks, he had done quite enough.
Small triumphs? For sure. The way we would hope government should respond? Absolutely. A portend of future interactions? One can only hope. With so many systems and models in place in the private sector aimed at better customer service, perhaps it was inevitable that some of it would rub off on the bureaucratic dinosaurs. It almost makes me want to call the IRS just to say hi.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford tries to file the correct paperwork. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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