Making a stand against petty burocracy

Gopher · Jul 05 06 11:35

Anyone have any good idea on this i.e. anarchic in a legal way.

Such as, when you get a form to fill in and find that one box indicates that it is for official use only - you spread a light coating of grease (butter etc) over this space, with the knowledge that if YOU can't write on it, then why should anyone else!

kitten · Jul 05 06 11:40

When they ask whether male of female, write in "Undecided". Or neatly print "Other" with a check mark beside it.

Gopher · Jul 05 06 11:41

In some places they still have forms with holes puched in them - which, presumably they feed through some machine, you handle this by adding an extra hole or two.

kitten · Jul 05 06 11:43

Why not punch holes the full length of the page in random spots?

Gopher · Jul 05 06 11:49

Well, they don't put the whole of the paper through the machine.

But seriously, I've always found the best way of frustrating their efforts is to be as nit-picking as they are (even more where possible). They hate it.

Some Chick · Jul 05 06 02:47

Write all of your contact information one line down from where you're supposed to. That annoys them too. ie. Name in the address box, address in the city etc.

jeffbc · Jul 05 06 07:50

Not to nit pick too much, but don't you mean bureaucracy?
I think a burocracy is run by burros, and a bureaucracy is run by jackasses.
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purelife · Jul 05 06 07:57

LOL...Good one Jeff.

I've got one, I think.

When the form asks you to fill in the M D YY, purposely fill it D M YY or reverse it. That'll have them figure things out a bit.

purelife · Jul 05 06 08:00

jeffbc wrote:
Not to nit pick too much, but don't you mean bureaucracy?
I think a burocracy is run by burros, and a bureaucracy is run by jackasses.
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"]You might get a smite for picking on "teh spuling" rules, there jeffbc.

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jeffbc · Jul 05 06 08:10

purelife wrote:
jeffbc wrote:
Not to nit pick too much, but don't you mean bureaucracy?
I think a burocracy is run by burros, and a bureaucracy is run by jackasses.
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"]You might get a smite for picking on "teh spuling" rules, there jeffbc.

But it was a good set up for my joke!

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Lise · Jul 05 06 09:18

Not me. I always do as I'm told. I don't wanna get into trouble with the law no matter what.

TehBorken · Jul 06 06 07:04

I've been wrangling with my bank over signing checks that are to be deposited (not cashed). They're trying to insist that they have to be signed. I say no, they don't. That's the law- checks that are completely deposited don't need a signature. Period.

So they've been trying to force me to do it. Now it's become a sticking point with me, lol. One of the tellers at the banks tried to buffalo me by saying, "They have to be signed! They're cracking down!"

I replied "Oh, they're cracking down? Who's 'they'? And what are they 'cracking down' on? Me depositing checks into my own account?"

She couldn't tell me who 'they' were, but then she made up a new one: "Well, it protects you from the check going into the wrong account." I called bullshit and I did it right there in the bank. I told her my signature had no magical powers that would prevent it from being deposited into the wrong account. The check wouldn't psychokinetically correct her mistakes, nor would it fly away from her hand if she punched in the wrong bank account number.

Then she really dug down into the Banker's Bag O' Bullshit and told me that it was because she "didn't know me". Okay, so disregarding the fact that I've been banking there for almost 10 years, I laid out my driver's license, my bank card, my debit card, my library card, and my business card. Then I asked her "Do you know me now? If not, what exactly will it take for you to 'know me'?"

To give her credit, she made up another one right there on the spot! She said that now "it's a bank rule" and she "has no choice." So I told her, fine, show me where it's written down and I'll sign it. Of course she couldn't do this because it's not a bank rule. I also said that unlike her, I have a choice, a choice of where I do my banking and if she didn't stop giving me a hard time about putting money into my own account (!!) that I'd be glad to move my money to another bank, who I suspected wouldn't have any problem taking my checks.

So, after brain-f*cking with this ninny for 20 minutes I finally got to deposit my checks, but I suspect it'll be the same dreary bullshit all over again the next time.

P.C. · Jul 06 06 09:13

I told her my signature had no magical powers that would prevent it from being deposited into the wrong account. The check wouldn't psychokinetically correct her mistakes, nor would it fly away from her hand if she punched in the wrong bank account number.

EXCELLENT point TehBorken.

I am in the process of trying to figure out why my bank decided to close my account with zero explanation. I couldn't deposit my checks through the ATM, and went in to ask them if there was something wrong with my card.

Not only did they close my account, they apparently have NO RECORD that I even had an account there. I asked what the criteria was for closing an account would be. She said if the account has been inactive for 2 years, they close it, or if the balanace was below a certain amount or if it was overdrawn. None of these 'explanations' were the case.

She said there would be a 5 dollar fee to 'search'. Best cough up the 5 bucks and get on it, I told her.

Sheesh !!!!!

purelife · Jul 06 06 09:15

I know how it feels Teh. I've been through many situations with the gov't similiar to yours and they are so rigid. I spell it out in simple mickey mouse terms and they still don't get it or would even budge one bit. They sure know how to use and abuse their power!

TehBorken · Jul 06 06 09:24

It's like when they tried to tell me that "it's the law" that I had to give them a telephone number to open an account. No, I don't have to, and I made them call their customer service office to prove it.

The lady at the bank gave me a terrible time, practically called me a criminal...but after she got off the phone with her own main customer service office she was as meek and as polite as could be, then handed the phone to me. The rep on the other end actually apologized and confirmed that there is no law that said I had to give them a phone number, period. I think the bank lady got a major ass reaming from him, too. lol

Now with the [span style="text-decoration: line-through;"]idiots[/span] wonderful people from Dept of Homeland Insecurity running things in this [span style="text-decoration: line-through;"]gulag[/span] country that may be different (to fight terrorism, of course!) but I'll make them show it to me in writing first.