"It's not supposed to make sense, it's the government"

[Sunny Side Up]

This is my mantra whenever dealing with governmental agencies, their policies & procedures. I always feel like I've fallen down a Rabbit Hole whenever I have interactions with them.

Like this latest episode: I had to go to the county office of Vital Statistics to obtain a copy of my birth certificate. I phoned them the day before, & listened to a detailed recording of their office hours, what to bring, how much it would cost, methods of payment, etc. Yesterday I drove across town to the office and found people walking up to the doors, going in & coming right back out. "They're closed!" they were reporting.

I went in myself to see. Sure enough, there was a receptionist behind a desk telling everyone who came in "We're closed!" And the reason? The first Thursday of every month all the departments are closed at 12 Noon so everyone can attend a staff meeting.

What the ?????

On what planet does that make any sort of sense whatsoever?

In order not to spew all over the innocent receptionist, I asked to see "someone in charge". That is absolutely ridiculous for an office that serves the public to shut down in the middle of a work day in the middle of the week. I told the supervisor that I'd phoned and heard the office days/hours, but there was NO mention of this Laflarkian holiday closing. Fortunately, she was agreeable and fetched someone from that office to get a copy of my birth certificate for me.

But I felt really bad for the many many other folks I watched come in the doors & be turned away while I waited. There was some sort of pharmacy there too, and many folks coming in with prescriptions to be filled, who left without their medicines. And I don't know what was going on in the "mandatory staff meeting" but the noise coming from their meeting room sounded like a comedy club. Bursts of raucous laughter, screams of delight, roaring from a crowd. As the staff members were leaving after the meeting, I overheard them asking each other "did you get up & dance?" and things like that.

Again, what the ?????

I don't know for sure, but it sounds like the office is closed, the public is inconvenienced, all so the staff can share in a feel-good morale-boosting government-funded pep rally.

Does anyone else have similar experiences, or inside knowledge about what goes on in these types of "staff meetings"?

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

The receptionist lied it was somebody's baby shower or birthday or something.....

 

[sparkles2307]

We have staff meetings, but all units are not allowed to have meetings on the same day or at the same time so that there is always someone there to help...we are as government as you can get...

 

[Sunny Side Up]

This was a sizeable building with several different departments, they wouldn't have all been celebrating a personal event. There was a small sign taped to the door announcing these monthly closures, but you'd really have to go looking for it to see it. And since this is a routine event, it should be included in the recorded information. I know there were folks who had missed work, taken busses & trains, or walked to get there, only to be turned away.

Certainly it would make more sense to keep a few people on the job to serve the public during these "meetings" instead of employing people to sit behind a desk & say "we're closed". Whoever came up with this brilliant plan should be the one sitting behind the desk turning away the citizens.

 

[Mahonri]

OK, I'll pass on this one.

..........

 

[shawnkfl]

government. what a joke.

 

[English Chick]

They have staff meetings serving alcohol and a disco by the sounds of it... me I would write a letter and complain big style.....

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Maybe they're having a meeting during their work day so that the government doesn't have to pay them extra to stay after hours?

 

[mjdtexan]

Quote:
"Laflarkian". I like it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This type of stuff can go on in big corporations too. The entire department can be shut down for these meetings. Whether they are beneficial depends on what they are for and who is running them. As long as it is properly focused, a little laughter can indicate a relaxed open sharing meeting. Or it can represent a lot of wasted time. I've been in both types.

A friend experienced something roughly similar in that the published open hours were not the actual open hours. This was in New Mexico where she had to drive a long way to get to the government office. She called an "action news reporter" and got it on the local TV. This involved a difference in state and local offices and she made it out to be Democrat versus Republican. That's why I say roughly similar. It is still a case of government forgetting whom they are serving so your local action news reporter may or may not be interested. And you may not consider it worth your effort. Be careful. She wound up on local TV.