In the interest of full disclosure, let me point out that I am a government employee. Now that that's out of the way, let me share my experience with one of my brethren the other day.
I completed an on-line defensive driving course and needed to turn in my paperwork at the Municipal Court on Lubbock near downtown Houston. The court requires three pieces of paper: (1) a certificate of course completion, (2) a state-issued driving record, and (3) a signed and notarized affidavit.
The process of turning in three pieces of paper at a desk in the basement of the Municipal Court building really should not take too long once you get up to the counter, correct? You give the clerk your papers, the clerk verifies the papers, the clerk gives you a receipt, and you leave. Transaction complete. "Next person, please."
But leave it to the clerk to make the process needlessly longer. After each person stepped away from the counter, he reminded everybody in line in a loud, slow, exasperated voice:
"Before you step up to the counter, I need you to have your papers in the following order: First, you need to have your certificate proving that you finished the defensive driving course. Behind that, you need to have your driving record, issued by the state. At the bottom, you need to have your signed and notarized affidavit. Please have all of these papers in that order before it is your turn."
If you are reading this, I want you to perform a simple test for me. Find three pieces of paper and number them 1, 2, and 3. Shuffle the papers, placing them in any random order. Now, while reading the above quote out loud, put the papers in numerical order. Ready? Go.
So tell me ... which task did you finish first? Exactly.
The turnaround time to get the 6 or 8 people through the line was easily doubled by this man's special request ... again, issued out loud as each person approached the counter for their turn. The time "saved" by having the papers in 1-2-3 order (as opposed to a brain-teasing, say, 2-3-1 or 3-1-2 order) was more than lost by the time he took for his speech.
OK ... that's it. I have to stop right now. I am reliving the frustration all over again and can feel the blood pressure rising ... and rising ... and rising. But before I go, let me quote myself from the Summit Ministries message board: "Think it through, people. Think it through."
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3 comments:
So with you, Steven. Gotta say that, if I remember correctly, your original usage (on the message board) of that phrase was in reference to people who were mad at France pouring out their wine in the streets...and I have to say that I've re-told that story and quoted you many times. I don't always give you credit out loud, but I promise I do on the inside. :)
That's right ... I remember. Americans were mad at France so they were pouring out their French wine as a sign of protest. Of course, they had already bought the wine so France already had what it wanted ... our money. Who really lost out? The American pouring the wine. Think it through, people. Think it through.
Ok, Steven. I got kinda lost with the order. Is it 2 first or is it 3? ;-)
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