Polite red tape

I had my dose of red tape yesterday.  But it is all because of my own doing...  Communication gaps.  In both Japanese AND English!  (That's pretty bad.)

I needed to renew my Japanese driver's license.  The Department of Motor Vehicles sent me a post card telling me what I did or did not need.  Now.... my Japanese reading ability is fair but not great.  I showed my post card to Tetsu and asked him what I needed and he scanned the card and said I needed to get an official document of residency at the city hall.  There has been a recent change in Japanese laws and I (along with other foreigners) will be recognized as residents.

Off I went to the city hall and showed them my Department of Motor Vehicles post card, and then went about the rigamarole of getting the needed document.  And then I went to the DMV...  and they explained that if I had looked more closely at my post card I would have noticed that morning hours ended at 11:30 and I was there at 11:45.

"O~kay.  I'll come back another day..."

The lady noticed the official document gripped in my hand.

"Did you change your address?"

"No."

"Then you didn't need the document of residency.  You don't need to bring that the next time you come."

If I hadn't stopped for the document I could have gotten to the DMV on time.  The lady was very polite and apologetic.  I wasn't particularly annoyed with her.  I was annoyed at myself for not reading the post card more closely, for Tetsu's error when checking the post card and at the city hall for not catching my mistake when I requested the document.

But it is all due to my lack of Japanese skills...  That's what I'd like to think.

I came home and was disappointed that I couldn't get my driver's license.  And I also realized I didn't have my passport yet though I'd sent the old one and an application to the American Embassy at the beginning of May. I checked the Internet and there in the ENGLISH instructions (which I thought I'd followed!) was the line,

"Please include a self-addressed envelope."

I hadn't included the envelope.

I called the embassy.

"Please connect me with the Passport division."

And I got a recording.

"Blah, blah, blah.  Press 1 if you....  Press 2 if you..."  all the way down to 9 which was what I needed to press if I wanted to talk to someone.  So I pressed 9.  And the recording said,

"Good-bye."

I actually laughed out loud!  And called the Embassy again and said I really needed to talk with someone and their recording wasn't working.

And I DID get to talk with a live person.

"Oh yes, Mrs. Watanabe.  Your passport is ready and waiting but you did not send a self-addressed envelope."  (But the application had my address on it!  My return address was on the sent envelope!) "If you'd like your passport please send us a self-addressed stamped envelope.  You'll get your passport in a couple of days."

So polite...  and I am so polite and apologetic back.  But I was actually thinking,

"Would it be so hard to just slap a stamp on some envelope and get my address from the application or computer or whatever you are looking at?  I did pay $110 for a new passport and a dollar in extra postage isn't asking a lot..."

But no.  If everyone fumbled around like me the Embassy and DMV would have lots of extra work so I apologized again and went to the post office to send off a self-addressed envelope.

It occurred to me that whoever gets my self-addressed envelope isn't going to know what to do with it and that I ought to send a written request.  But I didn't have any paper with me.  The WONDERFUL post office girl saw me rummaging around in my purse and offered me a piece of paper from her memo pad.  I wrote my note and handed the whole thing to her to send off special delivery.

"Um... I remembered that you liked the left-over stamp sheet pictures.  If you'd like them I cut you out two more of the kimono ladies..."

I could have cried.  Instead I shook her hand vigorously to her great surprise.