bureaucraZy
What the? The weather firefoxforecaster thingy told me that it would be 80 degrees tomorrow only an hour ago. Now it's going to be 61? I'll gladly take the 61, but that's a pretty dramatic, dare I even say, outrageous drop.
Anyways, Polish bureaucracy is bureaucraZy. Heh, look how clever I am. I had to turn in a bunch of paperwork over the last couple of days for my residency card, and it was quite the experience. More efficient than I expected, but crazy nonetheless. Today while I was waiting in line (for an hour and a half) for the foreigner's affairs office, this Polish couple walked right past all of us in line and went on their merry way into the office. One man, heavily (unidentifiably - is that a word?) accented said, "Hey! Do you know how long we have been waiting in line?" The Polish couple replied, "Yes, but we're POLISH." WHHaaaaa? Yeah, and we were waiting in the line of the FOREIGNER'S affairs office. I don't know why Polish people even go to that office, but they do. Anyways, I digress from that topic.
On to the stamps. See, there are these stamps you have to buy. Yes, postage-like stamps. No, they are not for letters. I don't know what they're for... but they attach them to all of the paperwork. So picture this: Here I am in the office, handing in all kinds of documents, pictures, etc. Then all of a sudden the person behind the desk is like, "Oh, you need a 50 groszy stamp for this one." 50 groszy is like... 15 cents. So I go to the "stamp" office and the woman is like, "Nie mam! Na dole! Na dole!" Meaning, "I don't have 50 groszy stamps. Go downstairs to the other "stamp" office to buy that stamp." Me: confused face. Why doesn't this woman have the stamp I need? She is the purveyor of stamps, afterall. So I go downstairs to buy my stamp. As I am waiting in line, 3 Polish men cut in front of me to buy their stamps. What, again? I haven't learned line etiquette yet. Meaning, I haven't learned to be as pushy as possible when it comes to this kind of thing in this kind of office. But, note taken for next time. Ok, so I run back upstairs and the woman who is helping me with my forms is now helping some other American. Uff da. I am worried since two days ago it took me an hour to get through the first part of this process. What if this American guy is going to take an hour too, and all because I had to go buy some stupid stamp worth 15 cents. BUT. BUT. Then he has to go buy some stamps! Crisis diverted. I am able to turn in my stamp.
It was a pretty stamp...
Anyways, Polish bureaucracy is bureaucraZy. Heh, look how clever I am. I had to turn in a bunch of paperwork over the last couple of days for my residency card, and it was quite the experience. More efficient than I expected, but crazy nonetheless. Today while I was waiting in line (for an hour and a half) for the foreigner's affairs office, this Polish couple walked right past all of us in line and went on their merry way into the office. One man, heavily (unidentifiably - is that a word?) accented said, "Hey! Do you know how long we have been waiting in line?" The Polish couple replied, "Yes, but we're POLISH." WHHaaaaa? Yeah, and we were waiting in the line of the FOREIGNER'S affairs office. I don't know why Polish people even go to that office, but they do. Anyways, I digress from that topic.
On to the stamps. See, there are these stamps you have to buy. Yes, postage-like stamps. No, they are not for letters. I don't know what they're for... but they attach them to all of the paperwork. So picture this: Here I am in the office, handing in all kinds of documents, pictures, etc. Then all of a sudden the person behind the desk is like, "Oh, you need a 50 groszy stamp for this one." 50 groszy is like... 15 cents. So I go to the "stamp" office and the woman is like, "Nie mam! Na dole! Na dole!" Meaning, "I don't have 50 groszy stamps. Go downstairs to the other "stamp" office to buy that stamp." Me: confused face. Why doesn't this woman have the stamp I need? She is the purveyor of stamps, afterall. So I go downstairs to buy my stamp. As I am waiting in line, 3 Polish men cut in front of me to buy their stamps. What, again? I haven't learned line etiquette yet. Meaning, I haven't learned to be as pushy as possible when it comes to this kind of thing in this kind of office. But, note taken for next time. Ok, so I run back upstairs and the woman who is helping me with my forms is now helping some other American. Uff da. I am worried since two days ago it took me an hour to get through the first part of this process. What if this American guy is going to take an hour too, and all because I had to go buy some stupid stamp worth 15 cents. BUT. BUT. Then he has to go buy some stamps! Crisis diverted. I am able to turn in my stamp.
It was a pretty stamp...