myhistiostory

So, over the past year I've had a LOT of experience with authorities. I've come to learn a LOT.

A) No one knows anything about anything.

B) Their favorite excuses are "I don't know," "That's not my job," "I can't help you," "You must have misunderstood," and "YOU have to do it!"

C) Often you will find that they DO know, it IS their job, they CAN help you, I HAVEN'T misunderstood, and technically, THEY should be doing it, NOT ME!!!

So the question is, how do you deal with this? 

Let me begin by saying that I have tried everything from heaven to earth, being nice, sweet, polite, accomodating, understanding, inquisitive, scepticism, and even dumbing myself down to observe their reactions. I have come to the conclusion from a lot of trial and errors, that none of these techniques work. There are however, a few very useful and powerful technique that DO work, namely, THREATENING them, patronizing them, disrespecting them, and demanding my right.

Threatening them: This is by far the most effective technique. You basically tell them that if they do not do their job, or get me the right information, or deal with my case immedietely, that I will report them to their boss, go to the media, put their job on the line, or anything that will basically put fire up their ASS. This is a brutal method, one that enrages me. Why do I have to threaten? Well, when ALL ELSE FAILS, when you lose your patience, and when you are ready to expload, trust me, this is the way to go about it!!! 

Patronizing them: this makes them feel insecure. They then feel the inevitble need to prove that they CAN do their job. So, they actually put their coffee mug down and start working. Yes, it's horrible as this is actually one of my pet peeves. But apparently, when patronizing their reaction is to defend themselves. They know that a mistake has been made, so they do all they can to prove otherwise, hence the job gets done. It's like a chain reaction. Chemistry!

Disrespecting them: they leave me no choice unfortunately. This is often a provoced reaction. They tell me I have misunderstood, they tell me that I have to do all the work, they tell me that they can't do anything. This boils my blood. I lose my patience, understanding, compassion, and sympathy...and flip out. Are they not disrespecting ME by not dealing with my case? Are they not disrespecting the fundings that their organization gets to deal with this by not doing their jobs? Are they not disrespecting people who really DO need help? Their passitivity and lack of competence is an indirect disrespect towards the people. Unfortunately, they deserve nothing less. Trust me, respecting them DOES NOT WORK...it just gives them more fuel to fail at their jobs.

Demanding my right: Often you will find that they think the person on the other side of the phone has no clue about anything. Until the wrong person comes along (AKA ME) and DOES know what I'm talking about. I know how to argue, I know my rights, and I know what I'm entitled to. When they start messing about and entice confusion, I stand my ground and start rambling up legal documents stating what my rights are. They then have no means to argue with me because, guess what...THEY CAN'T ARGUE AGAINST THEIR OWN REGULATIONS!!! 

And guess what? Everytime I've used these techniques, everything has resolved itself within a matter of hours, sometimes minutes. Why? Because, the brutal truth is that this is the only way to deal with them. They are so use to the passive citizen, when a non-passive one comes along with shit in her brains and does know what she's talking about, they shit themselves and react. 

I had to demand to talk to one of the heads of Försäkringskassan today on the phone. Let me just say that it was a very nasty and ugly phone call. I was shaking of frustration and anger. At first she resisted but when I then used the "threatening" technique saying that I would call the media in ONE minute and reveal her name...she backed down and told me she would fix EVERYTHING!!! Who would have thought that exactly 30minutes later, the lady from försäkringskassan in Örebro called me and told me that she too would fix all my documents for my Örebro case. They would send all the papers to the right places (they gave me a LOT OF WRONG INFORMATION...A LOT!!!) They would call my job and deal with it. They would fix all my papers, and they would do so by the end of this week. I took all their names, phone numbers and told them that if I didn't have everything sorted by Friday, that what they would definitly hear their names in the news on MONDAY MORNING!!!! It worked. Problem solved. 

It's horrible really that I have to take such drastic measures for people to do their jobs. It's horrible because it makes me realize that there are so many people who do not dare do what I do, who do not dare fight with authorities, who do not want to start a war with them, because they're scared...but it's not necessarily fear that's the problem...it's that people don't know their RIGHTS!!! These processes shouldn't take that long, they shouldn't drag out forever, you should get the right information, you should get all the help you can. When you're on sick leave, or for any other reason need to be in touch with these people, the information should be THERE...you shouldn't have to spend your entire days making phone calls, or searching a bunch of information. I don't like to use these drastic measures, but they seem to be the only techniques that work. At least for ME!

Over and fucking OUT!!!!