Two for Five
There is a lot to be said for paperwork. However, censorship being what it is, I just can’t say it.
We arrived to Quito, Ecuador and although we’d gotten our Ecuadorian visas at the consulate in Buenos Aires, we needed to have them “approved” by the actual Ecuadorian government. To me, the visa STAMPED into my passport seemed pretty impressive and authentic. Well, what do I know?
To approve them we had to go to a government office. So on a Friday we arrived to the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” and found out that the entire sector was out. I don’t mean just out to lunch, although I’m sure it was included. I mean out. They were at an all day training thingy. This reminded me of the time in Buenos Aires when Christine and I went to down town Buenos Aires, a city of 11 million people, give or take 400,000, to pick up a package and chose the day that the post office was enjoying its National Post Office holiday.
NOBODY was there! They were all out…. probably having lunch.
Back to Quito….the entire sector was at training, which, when you think about it is a good thing. A day to improve skills, strengthen teamwork, rediscover the reason why you work for the government, and resolve to serve the public sector even better. That’s what I had in mind when the Man-with-the-Gun told us to come back on Monday. He was assisted by the Other-Man-with-the-Gun. We left, and had high hopes for Monday’s encounter with the refreshed, resolved, and recommitted public service sector.
Monday came and we returned with smiles for the Man-with-the-Gun and his faithful friend, the Other-Man-with-the-Gun. We re-explained our reason for being there and, lo and behold, we discovered that we’d gone to the wrong office. The office we wanted was across town. I felt bad for the refreshed, resolved, recommitted members of the Quito government who could not wait on us. Alas…..
So, we took a taxi. Wait….I should mention that taxis in Quito only carry four passengers. We Butlers number five. So, we take two taxis. We take two taxis to go to the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” office. We take two taxis home from the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” office when we discover it has a training day. We take two taxis to return to the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” office to find out it was the wrong office. Where am I going with this? Well, we were told by the man with the gun….or was it his faithful companion?... where to go and where to get off. That is, we were given the direction of the right office. We took…..let’s see… two taxis to the correct office, which as I recall was named “The Real Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” We went there, and discovered that the office had moved. The guess the Man-with-the-Gun and The-Other-Man-with-the-Gun didn’t get the memo. Perhaps they were out that day being trained?
I’m not sure where to go with this. But I know where we went….
We took our two taxis home.
We arrived to Quito, Ecuador and although we’d gotten our Ecuadorian visas at the consulate in Buenos Aires, we needed to have them “approved” by the actual Ecuadorian government. To me, the visa STAMPED into my passport seemed pretty impressive and authentic. Well, what do I know?
To approve them we had to go to a government office. So on a Friday we arrived to the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” and found out that the entire sector was out. I don’t mean just out to lunch, although I’m sure it was included. I mean out. They were at an all day training thingy. This reminded me of the time in Buenos Aires when Christine and I went to down town Buenos Aires, a city of 11 million people, give or take 400,000, to pick up a package and chose the day that the post office was enjoying its National Post Office holiday.
NOBODY was there! They were all out…. probably having lunch.
Back to Quito….the entire sector was at training, which, when you think about it is a good thing. A day to improve skills, strengthen teamwork, rediscover the reason why you work for the government, and resolve to serve the public sector even better. That’s what I had in mind when the Man-with-the-Gun told us to come back on Monday. He was assisted by the Other-Man-with-the-Gun. We left, and had high hopes for Monday’s encounter with the refreshed, resolved, and recommitted public service sector.
Monday came and we returned with smiles for the Man-with-the-Gun and his faithful friend, the Other-Man-with-the-Gun. We re-explained our reason for being there and, lo and behold, we discovered that we’d gone to the wrong office. The office we wanted was across town. I felt bad for the refreshed, resolved, recommitted members of the Quito government who could not wait on us. Alas…..
So, we took a taxi. Wait….I should mention that taxis in Quito only carry four passengers. We Butlers number five. So, we take two taxis. We take two taxis to go to the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” office. We take two taxis home from the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” office when we discover it has a training day. We take two taxis to return to the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” office to find out it was the wrong office. Where am I going with this? Well, we were told by the man with the gun….or was it his faithful companion?... where to go and where to get off. That is, we were given the direction of the right office. We took…..let’s see… two taxis to the correct office, which as I recall was named “The Real Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” We went there, and discovered that the office had moved. The guess the Man-with-the-Gun and The-Other-Man-with-the-Gun didn’t get the memo. Perhaps they were out that day being trained?
I’m not sure where to go with this. But I know where we went….
We took our two taxis home.
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