READy to try : READ dating?
Finished: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Reading: [Waiting] [1000 days in Venice]
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” much like my two cities…city P and city F.
In city P, this government building is open and people can enter freely looking for information which is posted on bulletin boards and on windows.
In city F, you must arrive before 8.30 to be given admission to the building, even if office hours are 8.30-13.00. The only thing available to the public is the sign with hours. And the closed door with thick iron bars.
In city P, appointments are given for the delivery of the application and documents. And there is an appointed time and day for making appointments!
In city F, there is no order. And get there before 8.30am.
In city P, a photo machine and chairs to sit on are inside the building.
In city F, no and no.
In city P, 10 days after your first visit, you have an appointment to return and deliver your documents.
In city F, see above (no appointments).
In city P, there is an electronic kiosk inside where you can check the status of your application.
In city F.
In city P, a week after you deliver your application, you can pick up your final document.
In city F, after 4 months passing, during which the only way to check the status of such application is to physically go to the building every week and check the Dot Matrix printouts affixed to the windows for your name, you arrive to find that they have not lost your documents but they can’t tell you where the application is, and that you’ll have to re-apply.
When we mentioned this in city P, they didn’t even blink, and moved forward with the application.
I’m very late to reading this post. As a child immigrant to the USA, this same uncertain beaurocracy was what my mom had to deal with, we just tagged along and sat around all day, hoping to talk to someone who’d actually “Do” something to speed things along, rather than pushing your paperwork to the side, day after day, hour after hour.