incompetency is not an individual right

at this point, everyone who knows me would understand how i feel about the word 'incompetency.'  it is the word to be feared, abhorred and avoided with great efforts, whenever possible.  i just finished a phone conversation with the call centre agents at the government of canada and though there's nothing i could do, i am somewhat (if really) pissed. but there's nothing i could do.  so i will just vent here and pretend nothing have happened afterward.  things are always better out then in, isnt it.  if not, dont tell me otherwise at this precise moment.  i think bit of venting is a much better option than just straight outrage.

ive submitted my citizenship application eons ago (or what seems like eons), to be exact, on april 2009, i believe, when i came back from the states. now one wonders, what's going on?  monkey, you arent a citizen? aha, no.  while i was growing up, my dad have explained that switching one's nationality shouldnt be a flippant decision.  as a first generation immigrant, i think he views his nationality a bit more seriously than the most.  i understand.  for him, he'll be korean, foremost and first.  but for me? well, i came when i was 12.  i have lived away from korea much longer.  even when i subtract the five years i have spent in the states.  so anyhows, there was no chance of getting a canadian passport back then.  during my university undergrad years, i start to realize that perhaps it's the right time to make the switch over, as i grew more aware of the context i live in, the place i am at, about my own identity.  the first and last time i went back to korea was in 1997, just short five years later we have moved and the most common comment i heard was that ' (i) must be not from here- where were you born?' and seeing my friends exercise their rights to vote, i start to muse self about this citizenship papers.

then i went off to the states and that made things much complicated.  states being what it is and requiring ton of paper works for the foreign students, there was no way to really follow through the process, as one switches over the citizenship, there is a significant gap time that one is passport-less; and with the time it wouldve taken to reapply for another set of paper works and such, it was not a practical decision.  so i had to wait till i came back to canada post phd graduation to apply. so it went off from my hands to theirs, last year april.

now here's the fun facts.  twice, in dec 2009 and jan 2010, they have asked me to submit a supplementary applications regarding my residency (reasonable request, as i move around quite a bit) which i never received.   so then comes the phone chasing.  what should i do? would you send me another? etc etc.  and because ive been out of the country while my papers in process, i had to be in contact with them regularly. and everytime (probably total of four or more), they have given me the same answer: no, you dont need to fill out the supplementary papers and we'll be in touch.

so today, in prior to my winter break, i called them again, to notify and to see where things are at; same procedure: yes, i will send in the intention to travel overseas to the local office. btw, where are my papers? how are they? then the agent says: we are still waiting for the supplementary papers.

WHAT?

look, i have been in touch with that missing chunk since april and i was told that you will be in touch with me, government of canada- well he now says that i need to still complete the damned form and send them in, and that the reason it's on grande pause is that they are waiting for the paper works. i say how the heck am i fill those papers out if you never sent them to me? after i have notified you that the previous papers were lost?  he says nonchalantly that he'll put in the request for new set of papers and that it should get to me within next thirty days.

WHOA.

by the time it gets to me, it wouldve been a full year since they 'attempted' to get those papers to me. all i am saying is that it's a huge incompetence.  though i have been happy in last couple months, doing the things i do and being with the people i love, i do not understand how the call centre agents managed to waste almost a year of my life.  all they had to do was to send me the damned papers, as they should have.  and now- well, almost a year later, i dont really know what to say.  the agent today says that i should be following it as close as i could, well, what else could i have done? i have been asking the same questions of 'is there i can do/i am supposed to do' and today is the first day i got a different answer.

gross incompetency.  i am upset. i am upset enough to shed some tears. that's useless, i understand. there's nothing else i could do at this point.  i will just have to wait until they send their papers and i will have to diligently fill it out, send it and hope for the best. the thing is, i should not need grand things such as hope for paper works. all i would need is a simple competency.

close friend thinks that i should wait till they have processed my paper so that they wont conveniently 'lose' my works again. i am not too sure if they are that vindictive but i suppose there's no point of raising the issue. so i will wait till i have became a canadian. how difficult is it to become a citizen of the country youve been living in for nineteen years? not very. but when people do not care for their tasks, they become incompetent. and then start to drop the balls everywhere. i am glad to think that my past year has been very nice, if i may say so, but boy, i wish i had more control over my life, as i would have, if the call centre parrots have paid attention to their work.  what a mad situation. good bye, a year of waiting. take comfort in fact that i still have to wait longer and longer and longer. gaaah.  the friendly website tells me that verification will take up to a year no problem. good thing i like toronto as much as i do.