Reading this rant last night got my blood pressure up and activated some PTSD responses. We have all had these infuriating encounters with large bureaucracies in which their minions do anything to insinuate your culpability (and idiocy). Some embark on a righteous crusade. Others take the fatalistic approach and shrug it off. I’ve done my share of crusading. When my license plates were stolen on a Friday night in Berkeley I received numerous tickets: because the street was adjacent to university property, both UCPD and BPD slapped on tickets. Saturday and Sunday. Plus, for good measure, one for not turning my wheels far enough on the hill.
After several angry encounters at City Hall (“The law of California states that you must remove an unfit car from the road.” – “It was a weekend, the DMV was closed. I couldn’t get new plates.” – “The law of California states that you must remove an unfit car from the road!”) and fruitless pleas, I called my representative What’s-her-name in Sacramento and talked to the Mayor’s office. In the end, I paid them all, of course.
Here’s my Prague roommate’s Quixotic attempt to get his debit card replaced. Note that Citi Bank USA and Citi Bank Czech Republic are separate entities, at least from an Indian perspective:
