And You Wonder Why I'm a Cynic...

[katiemakeup]

Oh what a pain, that poor guy helping you out and this is what he gets.

 

[Undertow]

So Jack, how did this end up? Were you both able to fight this in court to overturn the ticket? Or did he end up paying? Any letters get sent to higher places?

 

[Senator Jack]

Never heard from the guy. Hope the judge let him off.

 

[Undertow]

There is probably a big difference between small town and big city police work. Not to mention the stress and workload associated with the job in both settings.

Iowa is small towns. You would hope that these police officers were gracious, understanding - more a part of the community and less a part of the police-mindset so often encountered in larger citys.

Believe it or not, every single small town I've spent time in has task masters and petty tyrants in their police department who are so godawful bored they'll do anything to scare up trouble. Typically, with the lower rate of crime in smaller towns, you'll see this manifested in the most ridiculous speed traps where you'll receive $65 tickets for 2 mph over the limit. Otherwise, should anything out of the ordinary kick up, you can bet they'll be there in force. Drunk driving? Ha, better hope you've changed your underwear because they're gonna toss you in jail for a while before they transfer you to county; just so they can feel like cops instead of people. [huh]

The only rationale I have for this is the extensive training they endure, followed by a huge slow down when the arrive on the job. Believe me, Carlisle IA (pop. 3500) does not need a police force with SUVs and cruisers who patrol their little 2 mile strip of concrete like hawks, just waiting for you to step out of line (i.e. speed). Not to mention the Warren County Sheriffs who crawl through that city like made.

 

[Undertow]

Never heard from the guy. Hope the judge let him off.

He probably didn't even fight it. Seeing as he's a good samaritan, he probably saw it as his civic duty to pony up the cash and settle it there. Too bad.

 

[John in Covina]

It's NYC and if it has to do with government your already doubly screwed.

 

[Undertow]

It's NYC and if it has to do with government your already doubly screwed.

That's really too bad. I'm dealing with something similar with my state department of human services.

A friend is trying to obtain food stamps (she's broke with 2 jobs, not much else one can do). She filled out an application online and received a follow-up phone call within 24hours. Great!

But since then, she can't get through the phone# provided, she's tried the operator who just sends her back to the original phone#, and she's tried calling different extensions...who send her back to the original phone#. She can't leave a voicemail because the box is full.

So she gets a letter in the mail one day that requests copies of pay stubs. I made copies for her and mailed the letter in the enclosed envelope. A week and a half later, she gets a letter saying her application was denied due to lack of requested information. So she calls again and again, finally gets through to someone and is able to obtain a fax#.

I faxed the docuements for her today, twice, and when I call through to verify they've been received...I get the runaround.

It's bad enough my tax money is basically lost in red tape, but the fact that these people are so unabashedly, remorselessly cold, ignorant, intolerant, lazy and purposefully complicated makes a person want to throw things. :rage: