I went there to get a notary public verification for
signing my USMLE-ECFMG identification form 186. The request is this simple: I need to sign an exam application paper that documents my identity in
front of a witness who will then verify my presence and identity by counter-signing and
sealing the application form.
After waiting in a haphazard queue on the right side of
the entrance, and getting cut by rude customers, whom the guy behind the
counter entertained, I was told that they don't sign on any foreign documents
without an Arabic translation.
That seemed like a reasonable stipulation. So I get the
form translated for BHD 16.500 at Shamil (exhibition avenue). Once more,
post-queue trauma, I get a number 77. The queue was at 36. The wait began.
I thought reasonably this might take an hour.
Two and a half hours later, I was signaled to a
registration counter, and then asked to pay BHD 3 at another cashier-counter.
And then asked to wait again.
10 minutes later, my number was directed to room 22. The
lady there seemed nice. She briefly read the translation, understood the
request, and said she had to double-check with her supervisor whether they
could counter-sign on the designated places on the identity form. I was taken
aback, I asked where else if not on where it says to sign and stamp? She said
they only sign and stamp on a blank space.
She came back with a decline. They were only to sign on a
blank space. I was worried, and I expressed my concerns since the ECFMG are
notorious for their detail-oriented process. I asked to see the supervisor,
who, with a cheerful attitude, reiterated to me that these were the laws- the
rule of the land.
I sensed that perhaps if I could get a copy of this law
to support their unusual method when I email-check with the ECFMG, I could
avoid looking like an imbecile. I was told that although they have no written
document to support this law, it was valid and very much alive, and in fact
kind of odd that I or the ECFMG weren’t aware of it.
Now remember, I was cut-off a few times at the queue to
get a number. I waited around three hours during my most productive study time
(morning), and I paid overall 20BD to get this response for a process that a juvenile
will be ashamed to prolong.
I emailed ECFMG, and got a call-back the following night informing
me to get an official document stating the law attached with the form to
authenticate my claim. Surprise, surprise!
My mom heard the story and told me she knew what to do.
And I know what she knows. The two most effective ways to accomplish anything
hinging on our bureaucratically uncivilized ministries is either sociopathic
behaviour or being well-connected. We weren't well-connected.
She went in, pretending to be an older, ill woman, who
was dragging her feet. She has to do this often and with experience, eased her way into the notary public
rooms without a number. Spoke with the two employees, striking a perfect
balance between emotional guilt-tripping with an exaggerated sob-story, and
critical shaming when a confident opening came ajar; gentle then harsh; lies pacifying them to accept some truth.
Finally, and luckily, another notary public official
walked in, who overheard her and, after expressing her sympathies, decided to
do it.
She asked me to pay the BHD 3 again.
And called the registration counter so I didn't have to wait-a-queue and take a
number to wait some more.
When I got back to her with the receipt, an expat barged in. She asked what his number was, but he told
her who referred him. She understood. I waited some more.
Finally, I got what I wanted. It was simple. But at the
end, I felt humiliated, and extremely disempowered. If not for mom, I would
have to go through some additional stress and unnecessary run-around, and for
what?
This makes me angry. I shouldn't have to
resort to pandering for an official's sympathies to get a simple request that is
hindered by an invisible law. And it was witnessing my mom go through this that
makes my blood boil.
This will not pass that easily my incompetent government.
I promise you.
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