Author Topic: MineralMan goes to the social security office  (Read 1379 times)

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Offline franksolich

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MineralMan goes to the social security office
« on: September 22, 2011, 09:19:28 PM »
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1986426

Oh my.

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MineralMan  (1000+ posts)        Thu Sep-22-11 03:43 PM
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A Trip to the Social Security Office. 

I don't spend a lot of time in government offices. I rarely have occasion to go to them. On Tuesday, though, I had the need for a replacement Social Security card for a loan I'm applying for. It seems that the Homeland Security folks now insist that banks see an actual Social Security card these days. Something about the Patriot Act, they said. Like a lot of old geezers, I lost my original card decades ago, and have never needed it. I do know the number, since I've entered it on hundreds of forms.

I know that I'll have to show a real Social Security card next year when my driver's license is renewed, along with a birth certificate, thanks to the same Act and DHS rules. Oh, well. So, I'd have had to do this anyhow.

In the Twin Cities, MN, you have to go to a standalone Social Security card center to do this. The main SS office is in Saint Paul, where I live, but the card center is in a hard-to-get-to neighborhood in Minneapolis. Minneapolis is weird when it comes to driving around, and this office location is in one of the most difficult parts of town to get to, since it's on the other side of three freeways from downtown Minneapolis. Never mind, though. I got there, only getting lost once in the poorly-marked freeway tangle that is Minneapolis.

Walking in the door, the first thing you see is an armed DHS guy at a desk. Why, I do not know. You get a numbered ticket after touching a choice on a touch-screen. There are applications and clipboards, but I had filled mine out on a PDF form on my computer. Fortunately, the guard is friendly and glad to tell you what to do. So, ticket in hand, I entered the waiting area. My number is N-18. As I enter the waiting area, they're calling number N-189. My level of apprehension rises. There are at least a hundred people sitting in the chairs, waiting. Anticipating a very long wait, I chose a seat and wished I had brought my Kindle. The person sitting next to me is reading hers. Oh well. There's a big flat-screen TV on the wall, but it's off. If it were on, it'd probably have Fox News on it, like every other flat screen I've seen lately in a public place. So, I'm glad it was off.

To amuse myself while waiting, I begin looking around the room. What a great assortment of people! Every possible ethnic group is represented. People wearing garb from West Africa, Hmong grandmothers, with their entire extended families. Typical middle-class caucasians. Urban black people. Everyone was there. Typically, most had at least one person accompanying them. Kids were everywhere, running around the room as kids with nothing to do frequently do. People were talking to others who were seated near them - talking about the weather and why they were there today, and how lousy the Twins are this season.

The other thing people were doing was listening. "N-177, Window 13!" the PA system said. Window 13 was in a row of cubicles, each with two chairs and someone behind a counter handling whatever request people had. There were 16 windows, and all of them seemed to be staffed. When the number was called, someone stood up, along with whomever was with them, and walked to the window. People came and went constantly from those windows, each with some reason. Some were applying for an original card. Others were getting a SS card for the baby they were carrying in a car seat. Some, like me, needed a replacement card.

I discovered that the numbers restarted after 200, so I started listening. Finally, after waiting about an hour, I heard "N-18, Window 8," so up I got and walked to the window. There, a young guy in his 30s, with a smile on his face and a keyboard and monitor in front of him, took my application and driver's license, asked me a couple of questions, then handed me a printout to check. Turns out my mother's maiden name was misspelled. So I mentioned that. The guy shrugged and said, "That's how it is in the records." Then he looked, and saw that I had a copy of my birth certificate. "Hey...if that's your birth certificate, I can correct the record." So I handed it to him and he did just that. That's it. No fee. No hassle. I was in and out in less than five minutes. The replacement card will arrive in a couple of weeks. I left, and drove home.

Here's the remarkable thing: Everyone in the room was patient, quiet, and almost all were smiling as they emerged from the hall with the 16 windows. No raised voices. No angry conversation. No frustrated looks or voices. The process just ran smoothly. As I walked back from my window, I glanced at the other windows I walked by. Each had someone on the other side of the desk who looked friendly. All day long, these workers are asking the same questions, solving the minor issues that arise, and dealing with their job. They appeared to be as patient and unflustered as everyone I saw that morning.

Nobody had to pay anything. Everyone needed something having to do with a Social Security card. It was just a well-run thing. A bureaucratic government office, but with no reason for anyone to be frustrated or upset. Just folks getting business done with someone from the government, and getting it done efficiently and by someone with a smile on his or her face.

Cool beans, in my opinion. Yeah, it took an hour of waiting, and almost an hour of driving time, given the congestion from freeway projects, but I got the thing done, paid nothing for it, and got my confidence in federal bureaucracy reconfirmed. It all just worked.

My point? Nothing, really. It's just something I don't do regularly, and I'm glad it was no real hassle.

Well, one's very happy the MineralMan didn't have any hassles, but of course he was going there with an easy-to-fulfill, pretty ordinary and mundane and standard request, a new social security card.

If however there had been some sort of variance or irregularity in his case, I'm not so sure he would've found the visit "no real hassle."

For the record, franksolich has never been inside of a social security office himself, and so has no idea what it's really like. 

However, there's this "waiting" thingamajig.

MineralMan is retired, or partially so, and runs a business out of his home.....meaning he has more "flexibility" than most people, when it comes to "waiting."  He may not like to wait, but if he has to wait, it causes him little or no inconvenience.  The "waiting" would undoubtedly be less of a "no real hassle" if one punches a time-clock, works for someone else, or has other appointments and errands.

And also for the record, franksolich is a champion waiter, the number one waiter most people ever meet.

I estimate that I've spent about 40% of my waking hours waiting, all my life.  These desert-like empty hours in school as a little lad, those yawning barren stretches in high school and college classrooms, in meetings, in church, on the job, when out with other people.

In fact, I always thought it rather remarkable, that I could do 8 hours of work in 4.5 hours (the other 3.5 that "circa 40%" of waiting).  Given my employment history and reputation, I've probably even managed 9 or 10 or 11 hours of work in 4.5 hours.

And when I say "waiting," I mean just sitting there, focused on one thing (usually the door or a person behind a counter).  I can't read a book or newspaper, watch the boob-tube, or pay much attention to those around me.  I have to keep focused--sometimes for hours--on that one thing that indicates to me that it's now my turn, or I'm wanted, or I'm being summoned.

This of course is due to being deaf; I'd have no idea it's now my turn, or someone's calling me, without seeing it done.  After all, I'm not going to hear it.  I have to watch for it, sometimes for hours.

When I was wandering around the socialist paradises of the workers and peasants, I refused to use "hard currency" "western-style" stores, based upon that I didn't like the sorts of people who owned, and profited from them.  I just took my chances with the workers and peasants, at places they could shop.

My silent stoic patience and mellowness was frequently commented upon by other people; for example, I had no problem standing outside in the snow for 6 hours, no place to sit down, no restrooms, the temperature below zero, waiting my turn to get a couple of quarts of milk.....and this being a socialist paradise, oftentimes when it came to my turn, there was no more milk to be had.

Excresence happens.  One accepts, adapts, and moves on.

I'm used to that, but I suspect MineralMan would find it, uh, rather more irksome.
apres moi, le deluge

Milo Yiannopoulos "It has been obvious since 2016 that Trump carries an anointing of some kind. My American friends, are you so blind to reason, and deaf to Heaven? Can he do all this, and cannot get a crown? This man is your King. Coronate him, and watch every devil shriek, and every demon howl."

Offline Gary56

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Re: MineralMan goes to the social security office
« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2011, 10:37:18 PM »
I have been to this Social Security office and you are right Frank, if you have an issue that is a little bit complex they are not very cheerful or helpful.  Of course I'm not sure what MineralMan was expecting.  People yelling at each other.  I have waited at many government facilities and I've never seen people in angry conversations or raised voices.  Everyone waits patiently and waits their turn. 

Offline JakeStyle

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Re: MineralMan goes to the social security office
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2011, 11:04:51 PM »
  My wallet was stolen last April and one of the many hoops I had to jump through to get my stuff in order was a visit to the local SS office to apply for a replacement card.

  I wasn't as blown away as MineralMan seems to be by the diversity of the crowd there, but I was impressed by the efficiency and pleasant demeanor of the woman that I finally had a sit down with.  She was in no hurry, but she looked at my documents, tapped some keys, and told me to expect my card in the mail in a month or so.  I wasn't overwhelmed by the great service that I had received, but I wasn't disappointed either, she did her job and I thanked her and left. 

  I just don't see how that encounter can be construed as an argument for how awesome government is.

Offline franksolich

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Re: MineralMan goes to the social security office
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2011, 11:21:03 PM »
I just don't see how that encounter can be construed as an argument for how awesome government is.

That's one of the big "talking points" of the primitives at the moment; about how efficient, about how nice, about how wonderful, the social security office is.

And then inevitably a primitive offers that medical care would be operated like that too.

I imagine on regular routine things, one doesn't have many problems with the social security office, but I suspect if there was some sort of "kink" or "quirk" in one's situation, one wouldn't find the folks there so efficient, so nice, so wonderful.

It's just a primitive talking point, actually.
apres moi, le deluge

Milo Yiannopoulos "It has been obvious since 2016 that Trump carries an anointing of some kind. My American friends, are you so blind to reason, and deaf to Heaven? Can he do all this, and cannot get a crown? This man is your King. Coronate him, and watch every devil shriek, and every demon howl."

Offline miskie

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Re: MineralMan goes to the social security office
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2011, 05:34:39 AM »
So, when a government office runs well, they say -

'Government healthcare will be just like this ! Isn't it great ?'

When a government office fails, they say -

'Government healthcare shouldn't be compared to this - apples and oranges, etc.'

But what else can be expected from a group who claims Abe Lincoln was really a Democrat, and the KKK were a bunch of rethugs..

Offline whiffleball

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Re: MineralMan goes to the social security office
« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2011, 06:54:27 AM »
I can't wait for his next installment of "In Praise of Government and the Total Awesomeness of the Experience" when he visits the DMV.

Offline franksolich

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Re: MineralMan goes to the social security office
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2011, 07:00:12 AM »
I can't wait for his next installment of "In Praise of Government and the Total Awesomeness of the Experience" when he visits the DMV.

Actually, MineralMan's been there; this is a large campfire, and I brought over only the original post.

In one of his comments further on down, MineralMan says he got good service at the DMV.....but pointed out he went in prepared, everything in order.

One wonders what kind of service he would've gotten if he'd been missing a document or two.

Now, I've been in DMV offices--obviously--and all my experiences have been neutral or slightly good.

But like MineralMan, I didn't present a problem; I had all that I needed, and there were no quirks or kinks or oddities involved.

I think if MineralMan hadn't been all together when going to the DMV office, he wouldn't have found it such a quick, easy, and pleasant experience.
apres moi, le deluge

Milo Yiannopoulos "It has been obvious since 2016 that Trump carries an anointing of some kind. My American friends, are you so blind to reason, and deaf to Heaven? Can he do all this, and cannot get a crown? This man is your King. Coronate him, and watch every devil shriek, and every demon howl."

Offline Karin

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Re: MineralMan goes to the social security office
« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2011, 07:41:55 AM »
He made that big long novel of a post with excrutiating detail, to describe a mundane trip to a government office?   :mental:  You're right Frank, if he'd been on the clock (or anticipating punching back in), he wouldn't have been so relaxed. 

I noticed at every turn he mentions "no fee."  He expected to have to pay a fee to correct his mother's maiden name spelling?  And he was grateful that it was no-charge?  A mistake someone at SS made originally?  You can bet there'd be a loud angry argument if they tried to extract money out of me to correct their mistake.  WTF, MineralMan?  You are a submissive slave to government. 

Maybe it's just me, but I was not so charmed by his description of the marvelous diversity of the waiters.  Sounds like a teeming mob to me.  Or at least Walmart on a Saturday. 

And what's up with that armed guard at the SS office?  I had to go there to get my name changed after I got married.  We've got an armed guard too, and it was the world's most boring job.  Sit there, and listen to the numbers called.  The clock ticks by, each minute seeming an hour.  You can't read, you can't work a crossword.  Sit and wait for the day to end.  Hell on earth. 

Offline Texacon

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Re: MineralMan goes to the social security office
« Reply #8 on: September 23, 2011, 08:21:04 AM »
Hmmmm.  Well 2 things jump out at me from MM's post;

1.)  How patient would MM be if he were at say a Sears store.  You know, walk in, take a number and wait for an hour to talk to a friendly sales rep about buying a new refrigerator.  Me, I wouldn't be too happy about it.  I would probably go to Home Depot and see what their line was like.

2.)  If I was the person behind the counter at the SS office I would probably be pissed having to work for FREE.  I mean, afterall MM mentions several times in his post that it didn't cost him a dime.  If it is FREE then the person behind the counter must be some type of slave. 

KC
  Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day.  Set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

*Stolen