Bureaucracy

I'm anxious to retire. I'm not sure I can though because I don't know what my retirement income would amount to. Why? Because back in 1968, I started a 2 1/2 year stint working for the Air Force in Alamogordo, New Mexico. When I left that job, I was paid part of what would have gone toward my retirement because I never expected to work for the government again. And wouldn't you know it. Now I do.

So when I started this job 13 years ago I began a quest to find out what I owed so that the 2 1/2 years that I worked for the Air Force would count toward my retirement now.

It took literally years to get the information I needed. Evidently there was a fire in the records department in St. Louis that made the information very hard to retrieve. Finally, I found the right person who could get the information. But then I procrastinated for several months before I sent the check.

After I didn't hear anything for several more months, I called on 11/05/08 and explained that I sent my check in August for the full amount and that I had not heard anything regarding what my retirement benefits would be and how much more I owed in interest. I explained that when I called in August to ask the additional interest, I was told that the system was down and I should just send a check and would receive a statement telling what the additional interest would be.

She said the system was still down but that the additional interest was $115.83. I told her that it was important to me to know what my retirement benefits would be and she said that the system went down in July, was supposed to be down 2 months, and was still down now. When it comes up, she said I will receive statements telling about my benefits (yeh,right). On that same day I sent the check for $115.83 making sure to include every reference number and document necessary to ensure that my retirement information would be expedited.

Yesterday, 5 months later, that check came back to me. I forgot to sign it. My fault, no doubt about it. But five months to return it? Five months to let me know? I am appalled.

So I called the number on the explanation sheet. You know. The one that says, if you have any questions, call this number. And that person said, "Oh, I'm not surprised. I've had people complain that's its taken 2 years to process their check." When I asked if more interest had accrued, she said I'd have to call another person at another number to find out.

And you won't believe this. No one answered the phone so I had to leave a message. I left a detailed message; and you won't believe THIS. No one has returned my call.

When the person calls me back (yeh, right), I'm sure she'll tell me that the system is now up, (yeh, right) and she'll tell me about my retirement benefits (yeh, RIGHT).