Why Dontcha Tell Us What Is It……You Do Here?

Don’t ask me why, but one of my hugest pet peeves is the party line of the civil service toady, who clearly can’t think for themselves or try to make the world a better place by challenging absurd rules, so they lazily fall back on ignorant, outdated laws and doctrines, try not to rock the boat, mark their time, and don’t even raise their heads above the collective non-consciousness of their orgnizations to have a real conversation.  That kind of complacency gets under my skin and always has—it’s slovenly, weak, and can even be dangerous at times.  My whole life, it’s really bothered me when people blindly follow rules without even attempting to question them.   This is probably why I work for myself, and why I try to stay within the bounds of acceptable behavior, so I won’t have to spend time dealing with nonsensical nonsense, the likes of which drove Dostoevsky to drink at the office, just to get through the day.

I am, of course, speaking of the shady shakedown I experienced this week, when a city I used to live in charged me an outrageous fee for not having a business license I didn’t know I needed (because, like, I’m not selling ice cream on the street) then refused to even READ the letter of appeal I wrote on my own behalf which indicated this lack of knowledge, and asked the very logical question– "How does a regular person KNOW they need a business license, if no one tells them?"  I’m sure no one is motivated to answer this question, because if the line of communication were clear, then they wouldn’t have so many opportunities to penalize people within an inch of their lives for not knowing something that no one told them, you know what I’m saying?

“Nope, sorry—nothing we can do.”  “Ooohhh….tough lesson.  Sorry.”  Statements like these during the back and forth drove me almost to the brink, and caused my face to be stuck in a look so surly that when Stephan came home from work yesterday, he was like “Wow—that can’t be good.  Are you going to keep making that face?  Yikes!”   

It was at that point that I realized I was probably shortening my own life (and definitely giving myself wrinkles) by dwelling too much on a problem, so I went for a loooong walk and tried to let it go.  But, DAMN.    So…..frustrating!  The last thing I’ll say on this is that if you’re that person and you work in that office and you Googled me and are now reading this, I think you need a different job, because the one you have is making you accrue bad karmic credit points.  Shame on you!

Aahhhh, now I feel better.  See?  I can let it go. 

On another note, did you hear that Nick Cannon (that kid from Drumline) might have married Mariah Carey?  That is nuts, and here’s why:  Mariah Carey is a 39 year old woman who named her last three albums “Rainbows, Butterflies, and The Emancipation of Mimi,” respectively.  If she’s not the biggest, most high-maintenance, ordering three bowls of hand-sorted pink M & M’s in her dressing room diva, I will eat a bug.  And why any 27 year old in his right mind would want to take that on, I can’t for the life of me figure out.  It has to be a publicity stunt, and I say that because it is no coincidence that they’re starring in her new video together, and that she was just on Oprah promoting her new album, and now their supposed wedding is on People Magazine’s website.  I think this all falls under the heading of "no publicity is bad publicity" myself.  Maybe he’s getting paid to just be on “boyfriend tour” with her or something, until the publicity dies down.  Or maybe, if they really did get married, she’ll give him his own room in her three-story Tribeca apartment, where she sleeps in the steam room in order to keep her voice supple.  Yiiiiiiikes!  Nick Cannon!  Run for your life!

• Category: What I'm Up To, in Case You're Wondering