When the very first time you enter a public service bureau and see a tall, black, uniformed guard equipped with a gun standing at the entrance and gazing at you, you may wonder if it is a right place you want to visit, especially the place renders services to senior citizens---Social Security Office.
The other day I visited a local Social Security Office in NYC, trying to clarify some questions concerning my benefits. Like that in Taiwan, I had to pick a number slip first and wait for an available officer "serving" me. Unlike that in Taiwan, the real-man announcement and the electronic board showing numbers and counters were not in sync, that made some aged visitors confused and thus missed their turns and had to start all over again. Finally it was my turn. I proceeded to the counter and stood in front of an officer, who sat on a high-legged chair using a mic speaking to me through the holes of a plastic window (I wondered whether it is bullet-proof or not.) Because I didn't like her condescending manner, and partly because I didn't want to misunderstand anything, so I demanded a Mandarin-speaking officer to give me the answers I really wanted. She then put me in the waiting list and told me that I would probably have to wait for a "long, long" time.
I returned to my seat, waited and waited. One hour, two hours passed. I couldn't even go to rest room if I didn't tell the person sitting beside me of my name and its spelling, lest I should miss any paging on me. It was high noon, how about my lunch? Never mind. Throughout anxiety, ennui and continual noddings, alas, it was my turn, though not a Mandarin-speaking officer taking care of my case(a Korean American I guessed). It had been another four hours and a half passing, exactly the same I encountered in DMV earlier.(see my other essay: :"The grass is greener on the other side? Not really". Guess how much time I spent in one of the administration centers in Taipei City for the similar case of pension and medical insurance? Half an hour, no kidding.
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