I experienced what Dickens referred to as the “Circumlocution Office” today. I went to contest my property taxes today based on a recent appraisal. I started at City Hall (we all know how that fight turns out), which is the address from which my tax bill was generated and sent. In customary fashion, they sent me to a tax office at the county courthouse. They, in turn, sent me to a county administration building to a particular office on the 2nd floor of the east wing. After waiting a while, I was then directed to yet another tax office on the 3rd floor in the west wing of the same building. After waiting some more, I finally found myself in front of the right person. After explaining my situation, I presented him with what I thought was my appraisal only to find that I had misplaced the document in all of the shuffling around. I then went back to my car, retrieved the document, went back to the 3rd floor office in the west wing, only to have to wait again. I then presented the appraisal to the person “in charge”. Wanting to manage my expectations, I inquired about the steps in the process, approvals, dates, etc. I was informed that there would be no less than four hurdles culminating in a hearing on July 13th, after which time I’ll hear the results.
In each of the four government offices, I observed countless people sitting idle, although much friendlier than those encountered by Aurthur Clennam in Dickens’ novel, Little Dorrit, which chronicles the inadequacies of the British Treasury and other government entities during the early part of the 19th century. All I could think about during this several-hour ordeal was Dickens’ visual and original concept he coined as the Circumlocution Office. Thanks for the helpful reference point Charles.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
funny how things never change
It’s funny how modernity’s “progress” in systematization usually seems to make things more complicated. We’re organized to the point of disorganization. There’s a Chestertonian paradox to match a Dickensian event.
When we have had reason to go through the process with regard to property taxes, our results were well worth the time spent, Dad & Judy
I expect there must be some way to speed up the process (short of bribing). James, I like your statement “organized to the point of disorganization,” ha, ha. I suppose that sometimes an organizational structure is not flexible enough to handle unusual or exceptional situations.
Well, hopefully we will get a result worth the effort, like Dad and Judy. 🙂
If successful, it would amount to about $200/year.