Friday 4 October 2024

Red Tape

 

Somewhere there's a company
Where all the red tape's made
I think it must be lucrative,
(Executives well paid)
For there has to be a reason
Why bureaucracy expands
And it's probably financial
getting money in their hands.

When the phone queues last for eons
And the menus don't make sense,
When your problems are not covered
And the chatbots leave you tense,
When you're referred to check a website
When you'd rather hear a voice
When the options on that website
never fit your required choice.

When at last you reach a human
And you explain what you need
Provided that they understand
They sadly can't proceed
For that's not what their team handles
And you're placed on hold an age
You endure awful muzak
Try to hold back mounting rage.

With luck you may reach someone
Who can at last comprehend 
But that is insufficient 
Though they care (or just pretend) 
It might be health and safety
That they quote as an excuse
The red tape binds them to some rule
That makes their "help" no use.

There may be a way forward 
Though it may incur a cost
Employ a private firm instead 
then more time will be lost
As legislation binds their hands
They have their own red tape
And fees that they will pass to you.
It seems there's no escape.

Maybe at some stage your needs
Are met with compromise.
Despite the aggravation, you
survived obstructive lies.
The Company has made more loot
Reduced the staff they need
Exploiting tech, and adding rules.
Who cares if you're annoyed?