A Tale Of Greek Bureaucracy

Listen to this:

I walk into the CSC (Citizen Service Center) in my city, located in the town hall.

There are five employees working there. Four of them are free. I still take a number for no apparent reason.
I approach one of the free employees and ask for my signature to be authenticated.

She asks me to sign and show my ID.
I explain that I have the app with my digital ID, and she says we need to do a "verification."
I respond, "Go ahead."

And the process begins:
"Tell me your ID number."
I say it and show it on my phone at the same time.

She says, "You'll receive a message with a verification number."

I wait a bit...
Nothing comes.
I ask, "Will it come as an SMS, an email, or in the app? So I know where to look."

She curtly replies, "Wherever you've registered it on gov.gr."

I ask again, "Do I need to log into gov.gr? Where should I look for the message?"

She curtly replies again, "Wherever you've registered it on gov.gr."

I reply, "Ma'am, nothing's coming, and I don’t know where to look."

"Tell me your ID number so I can resend it."
I say it again and show it on my phone.
She says, "You'll receive a message with a verification number."
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I wait a bit...
Still nothing.

"Ma'am, where does this message usually come? Where should I check?"

Curtly again: "Wherever you've registered it on gov.gr."

At that moment, a colleague of hers steps in kindly:
"There’s an issue with this process. You need to redownload the app."

So I go home, grab my physical ID, and head back.
Same scene: five employees total, one (the same one as before) is busy, the other four free.

I skip the number this time.
I go to a different employee, show my physical ID, and request my signature authentication.
She reluctantly takes my ID and mutters, "Next time, take a number."

I say nothing.

I sign in front of her.

A friendly and very helpful acquaintance of mine, who has worked there for years, notices me and says:
"Good morning, How are you?"

"Patience."

"We’re all in the same boat."

"No, we’re not all in the same boat..."

And I leave.

Yes, you guessed it—the acquaintance was the one who was constantly assisting others.
No, I didn’t go to her for help because I didn’t want to jump the queue or get my signature authenticated without the proper process.
Because I didn’t want to feel like just another cog in the “system”.
The process is serious and needs to be done properly. That didn’t bother me at all.

What I cannot tolerate is the arrogance of someone who knows that, whether they assist 10 or 100 people, their salary will arrive promptly and fully.
This woman was appointed to help citizens. This process happens daily at this office, for better or worse.
She should know it inside out and be able to explain how, where, and why to help people.

This particular woman didn’t show for even a second that she cared about getting it done. She was coldly indifferent to whether the message came or not—and I felt that in my bones.

And that’s why I’m making this post.

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BROTHEL