When you work as a freelance anything there are certain tiresome topics that have to be dealt with, particularly if you wish to be financially savvy.
To do this, certain information needs to be gathered and phone calls need to be made. In my experience thus far, getting advice from the Department of Work and Pensions and HMRC isn’t so much like pulling teeth, as trying to fit the teeth back into the oozing bloody sockets once they’ve been removed with a sledgehammer and run over by a steamroller. Painful is not the word.
I must admit to currently experiencing a very unladylike fit of pique. A little vein is throbbing in my temple; my jaw is clenched and my frustration has escalated to a point hitherto unknown.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘bureaucracy’ as ‘Government by bureaux; usually officialism,’ and ‘officialism’ as the ‘perfunctory and literal discharge of the duties of office’.
To do this, certain information needs to be gathered and phone calls need to be made. In my experience thus far, getting advice from the Department of Work and Pensions and HMRC isn’t so much like pulling teeth, as trying to fit the teeth back into the oozing bloody sockets once they’ve been removed with a sledgehammer and run over by a steamroller. Painful is not the word.
I must admit to currently experiencing a very unladylike fit of pique. A little vein is throbbing in my temple; my jaw is clenched and my frustration has escalated to a point hitherto unknown.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘bureaucracy’ as ‘Government by bureaux; usually officialism,’ and ‘officialism’ as the ‘perfunctory and literal discharge of the duties of office’.
As if to prove a point, today, in one of my many phone calls I’ve listened politely as the following words were delivered ‘we’re not paid to help you with that in this department’. This is a direct quote from someone whose blushes I will spare for no other reason than the fact that I can’t remember her name. If, as a Civil Servant, you are not paid to answer the queries of the public, what are you paid for?
It was dear old Oscar Wilde who said; ‘The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.’ If only he knew how apt those words would be 113 years after his death! It really does show some extraordinary foresight and greatness of mind.
I have a number of questions to ask, fairly straightforward questions, but I still need clarification. In the last three hours I have made 12 phone calls, been on hold for roughly an hour and a half, been transferred to innumerable departments – each time with the assurance that the destination in question was exactly where I needed to be, even when I’d already been transferred from it – and been cut off four times.
If this is what it takes to gain information related to self employment, I can only pity the poor souls who are having to fight their way through the benefits system.
It was dear old Oscar Wilde who said; ‘The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.’ If only he knew how apt those words would be 113 years after his death! It really does show some extraordinary foresight and greatness of mind.
I have a number of questions to ask, fairly straightforward questions, but I still need clarification. In the last three hours I have made 12 phone calls, been on hold for roughly an hour and a half, been transferred to innumerable departments – each time with the assurance that the destination in question was exactly where I needed to be, even when I’d already been transferred from it – and been cut off four times.
If this is what it takes to gain information related to self employment, I can only pity the poor souls who are having to fight their way through the benefits system.
RSS Feed
