Typical Employee Syndrome

Do you know what a “typical employee” is? Someone who just does enough to collect their paycheck. I’ve always thought the whole world should be paid on commission — even fast food employees. Let me take that back. Especially fast food employees.

I went down to Palm Bay City Hall to inquire about a business license. I had already read everything online, but noticed that to get a business permit for a “home office”, I could not be involved in the storage of “goods” at my home. The online information didn’t qualify what “goods”, so I wanted to find out what would be interpreted as “goods” since, technically, my “goods” were not for direct resale.

The three ladies at City Hall, well-entrenched in their roles, tell me just “not to worry about it” since the “goods” will be in my house and no one will complain. In essence, no one will know. Amazing. One goes on to say that “code enforcement is really busy”. I ask, “Does that mean busy-lazy or busy-busy?”. They all just laugh.

So, I ask if the chapter references on the sheet refer to city ordinances or state statutes. I figure I’ll just look up the information myself. Nobody knows. “You might want to ask code enforcement (on the other side of town)”, they say. The busy code enforcement people might know this.

As I start to leave, the one lady (the supposedly “smart” one who the others seem to revere), whispers, “I wouldn’t really worry about it. Don’t rock the boat.”. Yes, she actually said this — a city employee. I said, “If you were to look back at my life, you’d know that I excel in rocking boats… many have even capsized.” She laughed with glee as if I was just kidding around. Should I email this blog posting to the city council members?

Technorati : Palm Bay, bureaucracy, employee

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