Yesterday I wrote about This American Lifes “What Kind of Country do you want?” at which as was surprised at how much disdain and distrust there was of the US Government. As if by magic, when I got home I had missed a certified mail delivery from the IRS. I collected the letter this morning, it was a demand for $2434.04 with no explanation.

After 18-minutes on the phone, I spoke to one operator who could tell me only that it was late fees and interest. I asked for a statement that I could file with my tax attorney ans she said she couldn’t provide that, she’d have to put me through to some advanced dept. After another 20-mins on hold, a man answered, was polite, asked if it was ok to hold, came back 6-mins later, said his software was slow, and then said “oh there you go it’s come back now I’m talking about it”. He asked if he could put me back on hold, came back eventually and said he’d have to submit a paper request and it would take 30-days.

Note, the fact that I’d only been given another 9-days to pay before the US Government would exercise their intent to seize my property, meant I should just pay it. I submitted the payment via a 3rd party for the $3.49 fee and gave the guy on the phone a payment confirmation number.

I told him I was the Director for Software engineering at Dell; I’d be happy to hang up my boots and come fix their software, my fees were a very reasonable $1,000 per day. He said they have lots of software but his computer was an HP, I passed on the chance to make fun of that. Total call time 58-minutes, 38-seconds.

I’m starting to see that if you grow up and these are the sorts of tales, inefficiencies and hopeless situations, you do indeed become skeptical about big government. I’m going to see the US Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) tomorrow for my permanent immigration application. Wish me luck.