I have twenty minutes to write and post my first entry in days. I will cut right to the chase. Today I had my training session for the Census Bureau. They sent me an email with the time and place after checking with me to find that today worked for me. It was at 1 PM, two buses away from me on the other side of the Bronx. It said to dress business casual. It’s hot and sticky so for me that meant my nice linen. I brought a tie just in case. The first bus I needed came early, I missed it. Luckily, the next one also came early so it looked like I wouldn’t be too late, just seven minutes. I wasn’t happy about that as I am punctual, but I also knew that the odds of them starting on time were small. I arrived at the address and it looked wrong. It looked like a private house in terrible shape. There was a hand drawn sign that said “Census.” Someone was sitting by it and asked if I were there for the census. I told him I was, and he said something I couldn’t understand. He spoke little English. I finally figured out that the entrance was around the corner on the next block. The building goes straight through. He didn’t know how to say, “around the block.” He was saying something like “same building and pointing.” I walked around the block and found a much more official looking building with two people out front with clipboards. I asked if this was where the census training was, and they said yes. I showed them my driver’s license and Social Security card. I had to show both. Then they looked me up on their lists to find out which training room I was in. One problem, I wasn’t on either list. I asked them to check if they had my first and last names reversed. That happens often to me, the problem of having two last names. Nope, it wasn’t there either. One of them went inside to talk to a supervisor who then asked to see the email I got. The gentleman from out front brought my phone to him. He came out later and said that there was a screw up and that I was listed as having opted out of the training. Argh. I knew that had happened earlier, and I had it fixed. It’s why I got the email. This was a total screw up. They two men were very sympathetic to me and I knew it wasn’t their fault. I’m sure somebody made a simple mistake at one time and the system wasn’t robust enough to handle it. I was told to go home and await another call to reschedule. I lost three hours for nothing and there isn’t even a person I can blame for it.
In 9 minutes, I’m going to leave here for Brooklyn to see Katherine and friends do another porch jam. Tomorrow Allison and Joe are coming to the Bronx and we are going to the Botanical Garden. I will have to days with socially distanced friends to help me get over the frustration. Now to post this and get out of here.
Wise Madness 