He’d signed up for the job because the pay was good. Even though there are anti-government nutcases out there, at least he wasn’t a do0r-to-door salesman. How bad could the work be?
The training was tiresome and “by the book.” Unfortunately, the “book” was thrown out by the jackasses in the office and nothing made any sense at all once he was actually out in the field.
It turned out that an abandoned building infested with rats, with smashed out windows and a padlocked front door could not be labeled “uninhabitable” by one as ignorant as himself. Seeing it with your own eyes ain’t the same as seeing it through the paper-pushers’ eyes, and those are the eyes that count.
So instead of working in the field and completing two forms per hour, he had to spend half of his time at home on his computer tracking down absentee landlords and homeowners whose phone numbers were not listed. What to do at that point??? He got screamed at if he asked. Perhaps Stalin was running the Senses Bureau.
He was now down to completing one form every two hours. Nothing in training had prepared him for the new rules that would evolve on a daily basis, sending one form after another back to him again. Only 3 personal visits allowed; yet with no phone number what else could be done? If you have to ask you have no respect for the rule of law! Conspiracy theorist! Wack job! It is every citizen’s duty to complete the Senses Form! Knock on every door and call every adjacent neighbor and demand information! Stop at nothing less! Schnell!
Ah, they say the French love their bureaucrats, who sit smugly at their desks, answering to no one. But at least the French get to enjoy great food and wonderful coffee. Can an American adapt to such a Kafkaesque world?
Thankfully it happens only once a decade. And then the wheel has to be invented again, because the guys at the Front Office can’t seem to find the memo about what they learned last time out.
