Queuing

I was told to change my passport from PV to PJ. I took a leave from my training and went to the passport issuing office.

I arrived there at noon. I queued for about twenty minutes. After passing through the security check, I was inside the building among many people. It was my first time there and I didn’t know where to go. I just queued after a person at Counter No.9. There were only three persons in front of me. I thought it would be finished quickly.

However, when it was my turn, the officer at the counter told me that I should queue at counter No.2 or in front of a small room beside counter No.11 because I hold a green identity card. I said “Ok” and then went to the queue in front of a small room. There were more than ten people in front of me. I looked at Counter No.2 and there was no one. I moved to Counter No.2 but there was no officer to accept my application form.

I waited for about thirty minutes. My patience was becoming low. Finally, a officer showed up. He looked at my papers and asked me where is my PV passport. I didn’t take it with me. He told me that I can’t proceed further without it. The problem is the tone he used to talk to me was really annoying. My patience was already very low. When I heard that my time and effort was wasted, a bomb exploded in my mind. My anger was out of control. A bad attitude was shown. My anger was visible on my face. I rashly took my papers back, turned my back to the officer, and went to another place.

I was finding the exit door. I asked people around me and they told me I should go here and there. But, I still couldn’t find the exit. I was frustrated. I wanted to destroy something because I needed to relieve my anger and frustration. There was nothing I could destroy around me. Tears fell from my eyes and I felt very good after that. I thought about what should I do next and I decided to take my PV passport back.

There was no one queuing in front of a small room. I entered the room and gave my papers to an officer there. He checked them and asked me some questions. After that, I made a payment to the bank. Then, I had to queue to fill the personal information form and shoot a photo. There are 26 rooms accepting people to fill their information. However, there were very long queues in front of all rooms. I stood after a person queuing for Room no. 25. I was the last in line.

Two girls queued after me. They were very talkative. People in front of Room no. 26 were sitting and they looked sleepy. Two girls behind me were saying “It’s okay, just do it.” and then they went to stand in front of Room no. 26. A woman sitting in the back queuing for Room 26 shouted at them, and after that, all people in front of Room 26 stood up. Those two girls got scared and went back to queue behind me. While returning to their place, they even shouted back like they were not in the wrong.

I was standing in my small place. The girl behind me sometimes pushed me or touched my leg with hers or touched my butt with papers. I was like “Wtf, just give me some personal space!”. Of course, it was just thoughts. Not only that, a guy in front of me, sometimes, turned his neck and winked at me. I was like “Wtf again!” There was a group on my left side and the leader was explaining a case where someone lied when questions were asked and its consequences. I heard all of them and I was like, “Wth, why can’t a person be just honest about themselves?” I looked at my right side and saw a person holding papers. I could see her personal information. It was not like I was doing social engineering. She looked at me with her big eyes. I was like “Wtf again!”

The situation I was in made me think, “There will be times when people attack you from every direction. Sometimes, you need to act everything possible back just to protect your own small personal space.”

It took two hours and I was in Room 25. An officer there was checking my papers and he told me that one paper which is a personal form that should be filled after entering the building was missing. When I told him about not knowing it, I was scolded that I should take the paper myself because no one would come to me, give me the paper, and ask me to fill it. The officer continued to scold me, “Not having won’t make your life difficult but not knowing does.” So, is it my fault for not knowing it? The passport issuing office was closed and people were packing their things. I rushed to grab a personal form, filled it, and then went back to the queue again. There was only one person in front of me. The officer checked my papers again. He looked at my labor card and asked me questions. He told me that the labor card I brought can only be used within the country and if I was applying for PJ, I needed a labor card for foreign countries. I was even scolded for my clumsiness and not preparing well. The officer told me to come back the other day. I felt lost on my way back.

Lack of planning put me into trouble many times before. It is also the same this time. I clearly knew it but I still couldn’t fix it. Gather information first, then make plans, and only after that I should execute it. Because of what happened, “Lack of information will put me into trouble!” is deeply embedded in my mind right now. Things should have been done within a day but because of a lack of information and planning, I wasted extra time, effort, and money. As a person who studied information technology, I saw and heard, “Gathering requirements is the first step to everything.” many times before. Yet, I couldn’t apply in reality. I feel ashamed of myself.

And also, it is already the information technology age and the next AI wave is coming and yet they are still using paper. And, I had to queue two days for that. I really, really wanted to build a website for them. Now, I f**king hate queuing.

Gotta work hard to the day when I become a VVIP who doesn’t need to queue anymore.

Nov 28, 2019