The Bureacratic Moebius Strip
"Hi, I'd like to register for a National Insurance number."
"We will need to see proof that you're working or actively looking for work. Are you working right now?"
"I'm self-employed."
"Are you registered as self-employed?"
"No. I need a National Insurance number to register as self-employed."
"We can't give you a National Insurance number unless you're working."
"I am working."
"You just said you weren't."
"I'm self employed."
"That doesn't mean anything. Are registered as self-employed?"
"I can't register as self-employed unless I have a National Insurance number."
"We can't give you a National Insurance number unless you're working ..."
(Happily, the people at HM Revenue and Customs were much more helpful. You know, I'm only doing this because I want to be a good citizen. I could have just simply tried to work and not pay taxes ...)
"We will need to see proof that you're working or actively looking for work. Are you working right now?"
"I'm self-employed."
"Are you registered as self-employed?"
"No. I need a National Insurance number to register as self-employed."
"We can't give you a National Insurance number unless you're working."
"I am working."
"You just said you weren't."
"I'm self employed."
"That doesn't mean anything. Are registered as self-employed?"
"I can't register as self-employed unless I have a National Insurance number."
"We can't give you a National Insurance number unless you're working ..."
(Happily, the people at HM Revenue and Customs were much more helpful. You know, I'm only doing this because I want to be a good citizen. I could have just simply tried to work and not pay taxes ...)
Labels: bureaucracy, London life, moving
posted by Smitty Werbenmanjensen at 12:26 PM
2 Comments:
It's an Escher bureaucracy!
I found this limerick when I looked up "Mobius Strip" on Wikipedia:
"A mathematician confided
That a Möbius band is one-sided,
And you'll get quite a laugh,
If you cut one in half,
For it stays in one piece when divided"
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