in the right

A friend from the UK shared that her partner (read "boyfriend") is having some frustrations with the Russian women who work for the consulate there. They will never admit they are wrong. Never. They've been caught in the middle of wrong-doing and will blatantly say it's not them. These are not major, earth-shattering mistakes. It could be something as simple as using the wrong color pen to sign a document. Still, presented with the evidence, they will deny that they were wrong. They will look at the ink and tell you black is blue.

I've had similar experiences with my facilitators in the US, but didn't recognize it as a cultural difference until my friend shared this with me. The latest, which is a little tiny, tiny thing that's driving me crazy, is about a lost check. I sent it in November. I know I did because we had to verify everything and include it on the customs form before I sent it. The check was there.

The check has not been cashed. I asked them about it when they were telling me how much I owed for apostille charges because the check I sent wasn't taken into account. They didn't cash a check I sent in August until November, so I wasn't overly concerned before then. But, they didn't have the check. I've said that I'll send a new check to replace it and one of the facilitators is fine with that. But. The other day I was asked (presumably by the other facilitator though the e-mail was unsigned) what I'd done about the check. It basically was saying that I was at fault, that I hadn't sent them a check.

I should've just stayed butter-won't-melt. But I didn't. I know it's a little, little thing but I couldn't. I'm sitting here waiting and watching the clock tick by, hoping that the inefficiencies on their part will not make the difference in whether or not my paperwork is filed before my agency's accreditation ends. And, so, I couldn't. I said I thought that they'd probably thrown the check out accidentally. Because, really, they probably did. Really, that's what I think. And I said it.

Cold reply. They had never received a check. But, this time I didn't present my customs story (though I did keep it in reserve). I simply said that it was sent with the second batch of documents and it wasn't a big deal to replace it.

And there was no answer to that e-mail, so I'm claiming the point. How sad is it that I feel the need to claim a victory this small? It's just that I'm so tired of being told I didn't do things that I did. I'm tired of being told I've been told things I haven't. I'm tired of all the paper-bungling and procrastination that's gone on. And I'm worried that all this garbage is going to delay my paperwork to the point that it's too late.

So, yes. I was petty. I am petty. I admidt it. I needed acknowledement that this time, they made a mistake.

I just hope this mistake is the last.