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Oaxacan political graffiti – foto by smith

you want depression? then deal with the government. specifically the social security administration.

this is to be my first month of early retirement benefits, and yet my application has yet to be filed. i applied december 10 last year. sent them my birth certificate and navy discharge papers the same day. 2 months later they send me a rejection letter because they don’t have proof of my age.

my mother-in-law goes in to check on them for me since we’re living in mexico, 1,946 miles from their office. they find my birth certificate and discharge papers on the person’s desk under 3 months of dust and return them to my mom-in-law. the workers apologize, promise it will be taken care of immediately.

we call this morning to check. i’m still not in the system. this is my first month of coverage, for which i’m to receive a check middle of may, and yet i’m still not registered.

it’s even worse because we cannot call the Painesville Ohio social security office because their phone message system puts you on hold for 5 minutes and then pops you out and starts the loop all over again. ever 5 minutes they loop back and say “So glad you called – this is what you have to do.” we’ve tried for hours on multiple days in multiple months to call. may have to wait for our year-long mexican visa to come through, then fly back to cleveland and take care of it manually. but if i’m within arm-reach of these folk, i’m afraid of what my desire to fight blight with might might do. stupidity and sloth are two of the easiest ways to push my buttons – a silly situation to be in considering how much both rule the world.

i’m not a conservative, or a right-winger–in fact, i’m way left of anarchy–but they do have some valid points when they say how bloated our government has become with worthless workers. seems if you can’t do, you tell others how to do. if you can’t tell others what to do, you make things in factories. if you’re too dumb to make things in factories, you work for the government, where you get to tell others how to live their lives.

what’s depressing is once again it’s an example of the system saying you have to play by their rules, but when you do play by their rules, they screw you anyway. governments and the rich and the powerful all say “do as we say, not as we do – and even if you do do what we tell you, we’ll still muck you over if we feel like it.”

as Stephen King wrote, “SSDD” – same shit, different day.

still, this is a fine Zen lesson in anger management and self control. i’m failing the lesson, but not too too badly.


Oaxacan political graffiti – foto by smith

3 Responses

  1. I had problems with the SS (not the German SS the American one) but they eventually came through with a retroactive check just before I got evicted and died from starvation. But I wasn’t living in Mexico so maybe your problem is a little more severe. There is a SS office right here in Lakewood so if you think there’s anything I could do let me know.

  2. thanks, my mom-in-law is stopping by the painesville office today. they’re the ones with my paperwork. theoretically it’ll all work out… worse case we’ll have to fly back and try to take care of it in person (more money down the drain).

    once we get the ss fixed and get our year visa for mexico, we’ll be in good shape. considering most folk’s lives and problems, we’re not doing too badly. we are after all in mexico with a roof patio.

  3. “i’m failing the lesson, but not too too badly.”

    I’m sorry but that made me laugh out loud. I hope things work out.

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