Slowness

Slowness is for turtles. Slowness is for snails and sloths. Slowness is for babies learning how to walk.

Slowness should not be for government organizations. Slowness should be banned in all government organizations and workers in them.

It should not take 3 days on average for a government worker to return your phone call. It should not take at least 5 business days for a government organization to update their system with information from a fax you submitted to them. It should not take 10 minutes of your time sitting on hold listening to music from the dinosaur ages to get through to an actual live, english-speaking person -- only to find out that they don't know diddly-squat about the government organization that they are working in.

Do they think that we, as people, enjoy waiting on hold? Do they think that we enjoy waiting 6 - 12 weeks for them to process our tax refunds? Do they think that we enjoy receiving letters in the mail stating that we owe them money - with no explanation given? Sometimes, I think they enjoy these things a little too much. A lot of times, I think we just bend over and take it too much.

I know, I know. You think to yourself 'It's the government, what can I do?' Or, 'Well, I guess that's just the way it is.' And then, again, we wait. And we wait some more.

And then we hear workers in those organizations complain that they don't get paid enough to do their jobs, or there's too much to do and not enough time to do it.
I think they get paid way too much to do what little work they get done in the 8 hours of their shift. Too many coffee breaks and meetings being had at our expense.

Hurry up and wait. That's all I hear. Hurry up and wait.

Well, I'm tired of waiting! My time is valuable too, you know! Do they think that I have nothing better to do with my time than spend it sitting on hold only to be told, 'I don't see any information in my system yet'.???? For their information, I DO have better things to do with my time!!

And what would that be - they may ask..............

I'm sorry, but they're just going to have to wait to see if I can find that in MY system.

Please HOLD.

You never expect....

You never expect people to go out of their way for you, especially complete strangers you don't even know.
That exact thing happened to me today. I went into my local grocery store to purchase a few things. I only had a gift card with less than $15 on it to pay for my items. So I went through the store and picked up the few things I needed and when I was done, I proceeded to the nearest express checkout line.
As it turned out, my total had exceeded the amount on my gift card by about $6. Just when I was figuring out which items to take off of my bill, the cashier at the checkout told me not to worry about it as she pulled a $10 dollar bill out of her pocket and proceeded to pay the extra $6. I was so shocked. I asked her if she was sure and she said yes.
I was so touched by her gracious, unselfish act of kindness. I had never before experienced such a thing by a complete stranger. I couldn't thank her enough for what she did.
I left the store with the most wonderful feeling ever. I still can't believe it, 10 hours later.
That is something that is missing in today's society. Not the fact of paying for someone's bill when they can't afford it, but just the act of simple kindness.
If people went out of their way just a tiny bit for someone else, the world would be a much better place to live in. Even if it's just slowing down to let someone cross the street, or holding the door open for the person behind you. That tiny act of kindness and courtesy you show to another, can mean a world of difference to the person on the other end.