I'm back where I was in September 2006: unemployed, looking for a job, and trying to fill out all the necessary forms. I'm trying to do things better this time and not get annoyed as quickly. The most difficult part of becoming officially unemployed is filling out the form which certifies that I had a job. The employment agency gave me six working days to get this form completed, and told me to ring them for a personal appointment by today.
In these six days, I had to take the form from the employment agency to the Personell department of the University, who had to send it to the central administration in Dusseldorf, who had to stamp it and post it back to me. Of course I haven't got it back yet.
I rang the employment agency this morning, but before I could apologise for my slackness and ask for an extension, the man asked whether I had got this particular form. I could tell in the tone of his voice that he knew I hadn't. He knew that it was impossible to do it in six working days. He told me to piss off and ring back when I had the form.
A year ago, I would have finished the post here, annoyed, with Muzak ringing in my ears. Now I will try to think what positive steps I can do...
thinking...
thinking...
I can't influence the speed of German authorities. I can't ban Muzak. I can't decimate the ranks of German beaurocrats to improve their efficiency. I can't redesign all government forms, banning any font less than 10pt and the use of their beloved abbreviations.
All I can do is try to chill out. Say it doesn't matter. Say that one pointless phone call isn't that bad. Appreciate that German beaurocracy always seems to get there in the end.
Here is a reward for getting this far.
edit: I see that the "reward" picture is quite old, and was already featured on Snopes
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