Could you be more specific?
Created | Updated Jun 21, 2004
Could you be more specific?
Modern life couldn't be more backward. You'd think, in 2004, that people who are supposed to be professionals, could be more professional, but they are prone to the same old office mentality that has been around since the first desk was installed and a wide butt planted in a chair behind it.
One of the ways in which these esteemed worthies make our lives, and their co-workers, a living hell is the manner in which their illiteracy does not extend to paperwork. They create or sustain a filtering system, a funnel, if you will, that makes sure that their job description includes out any portion of their work that they do not know how to do, do not want to do, or are willing to do as little as possible, provided that someone else performs 80% of the task and takes responsibility for any errors.
One of the most important tools in their box of alchemical magicks is the slot form. It has sentences and/or multiple choice offerings that provide you with the illusion of choice. Once you have filled out said form, your soul belongs to them forever.
The second most important tool is the verbal request. No matter how assiduously you choose your words, something will give these minions of Lucifer wiggle room to weasel out of any implied or expressed promise of compliance or assistance you might have thought they made. These people don't have to cross their fingers. They cross their legs or their "t"s. It's all the same to them, a big game of "Simon Says" or "Mother, May I", with not all the rules being on display. What's truly horrifying is that while they might pull this crap on you or their own co-workers, even their families and friends, at no point can they be expected to comply similarly.
It's simply not in their life description.
It seems that this form I filled out two months ago in order to get an action taken on this matter has not been passed along to the relevant people. No action has been taken.
Well, yes, sir, some has indeed.
It has?
Yes.
And you are going to tell me what this action was, since it obviously was not the action requested?
We cannot initiate any action until the form has been filled out properly.
So, action was taken on the form itself, but not the activity requested?
Yes.
So, what was wrong with the form and what action has been taken on the form?
The form was not filled out with specific enough information for action to be considered, so the form has been sent to the lady who deals with such things in order to fill out her form detailing specifically what was wrong with the improperly filled out form. When she has completed that action, then the form will be sent back to the person to whom you submitted it, who will then fill out a form specifically detailing why they did not point out why the form was improperly filled out to the fillee, which I assume is you, at which point the form will be be sent back to the lady, who will staple all relevant and specific forms to the original, which will then be filed and a copy of your original sent back to you...
With an explanation, I assume?
Well, no. The file clerk will have to review the file before it is assigned a file number and he will have to fill out a form specifically detailing why there should be a file on this matter and decide whether to request further action, which will require another form.
Um. And at no point did or will any of you notice that the orginal form involved a time-dependant activity of worth to all of us in this firm?
What do you expect of us, sir? We do not actually read the form. Our job is to make sure that all relevant and specific information is placed in the proper blanks or slots on the form. If even one blank or slot is empty... Why have the lights and my computer gone off?
I filled out the original form in order to request authorization to pay the power bill.
Coo, are you in trouble!
