I don't know.
I seriously doubt they are stalking random blogs to see if people are complaining about them so that they have an excuse to deny our appeals, but sometimes I wonder. I want to say, "Does it make you feel like a big man to deny a petition?"
Maybe it is better to simply post the conversation I had with an innocent bystander by the name of Social Worker regarding an illiterate person named Bureaucracy. You see, though SW wrote a 15 page document regaling B with the outstanding merits of House-Chaos and whom they would like to adopt, Bureaucracy couldn't tell if House-Chaos was approved to adopt a child. And if they were approved to adopt a child, what gender? And age? And race? And how old? And from where? Could the child have special needs? And assuming that House-Chaos could indeed adopt some child of unknown origin, gender, age, or need, on what merit?
Because Bureaucracy can't read. On this it is clear. Due to the fact that fourteen pages told Bureaucracy just those particular matters. Though, I do confess, page fifteen is negligent on fulfilling those specific details. It contains a happy little line approving House Chaos to adopt one or two children and approximately four signatures. (From people residing in approximately four different cities.)
So....Mrs. Chaos emailed Coordinator, who emailed the Big Boss who finally decided that this must be because the final statement of the fifteen page document just approved House-Chaos to adopt without specifying who, what, why, when, and where.
So...Mrs. Chaos emailed Social Worker (with her tail between her legs since social worker has already rushed aforementioned fifteen page document AND had it approved by no fewer than four people) to request, politely, that she RE-DO her work. Which will also require numerous trips to a courier office to get all the necessary signatures and notarizations before it can be resubmitted to Bureaucracy.
The conversation went a little something like this (I may or may not be exaggerating):
Social Worker,
Bureaucracy apparently can’t read and therefore didn’t think you specified WHO we could adopt. Is it possible for you to change the last line of our 15 page document to say, in addition to “one or two children,” either gender, from birth to ten years of age with mild or correctable special needs from Ethiopia. Or whatever version of that sounds good to you.
I’m sorry. If they had eyes and bothered to read the rest of the document, they would know such, but apparently the last line is all that matters.
Thanks,
Chaos
to which she replied:
*politely and professionally*
and then again:
will do (because she also had to email Supervisor who had to re-read the document to see what the heck we all missed, because though they write these 15 page documents EVERY STINKING DAY and have been rubber stamped for years, TODAY we are all ignoramuses. Ignoramusi?)
to which I had to reply:
do you realize it is a signature page? (which means that no only does she have to rewrite it, we have to courier it around the country to get it redone)
to which she replied:
*politely*
but then asked the question, whole doc or last line (in regard to one of my earlier post scripts)
at which time I brought out the snark:
I think only the final statement. Because anyone with eyes and a fifth grade education could read the rest of the document if they so desired. (thus eliminating the need for this conversation in the first place)
To which she replied:
tell me what you really think.
And you would think I would have shut up at this point, seeing as this woman holds our future in her figurative hands, or brain as the case may be, but no:
You don’t want to know.
And do you disagree? I mean, clearly, I was hoping to adopt seven 14 year old handicapped boys from Venezuela. Your document said as much.
(and just in case she wasn't fluent in sarcasm)
Ah well, if this is the worst that happens to us in this adoption, we will be very fortunate.
(which is true, but makes this day no less annoying)
At which point Social Worker responded very politely and professionally and did exactly as I asked on a Friday afternoon.
Her re-write is currently being emailed all over tarnation in hopes that THIS TIME it will meet the approval of The Man. And will be couriered all over Heck and Gone beginning tomorrow.
OK, yes, it could be a whole lot worse. They did not rubber stamp a rejection. They gave me 45 days to fix the problem. They already have my fingerprints. We are waiting on nothing except The Document which I should have in my paws by Thursday and should have in Bureaucracy's paws by Monday the 19th at the latest. This is not the end of the world. It is not even the end of the adoption. It may be the end of my sanity, but that was holding on by a thin shred anyway.
Due in no small part to the fact that we are trying to, at this very moment, have an eleven-year-old birthday party/sleepover.
I am a little perturbed by a government institution that is being so picky on this detail when two weeks ago another governmental institution wouldn't take in four children under the age of four who were being left alone in a motel room at night. I understand caution, but really? Is it the same institution? No. It is this dude's fault? No. But do they really think we would have bothered to submit the 15 page document should it NOT have approved us for the child we were asking? Do people really try to pull that crap?
Rejoice.
Anyway.
Some days it is harder than others.
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