THE TWEAK SHOW

Dear Addressee,

My apologies for the above salutation, but due to the number of copies of this letter I will be mailing, addressing each of them would be too time consuming - considering the amount of time I am spending to write it.

This letter is to voice my concern and dissatisfaction with procedures and conduct now in place at the Lehighton Valley, PA, PennDOT facility located on 1710 Hoover Ave.

My personal experience was in having my son’s request for a license transfer from Mississippi denied due to his Social Security card having only his middle initial, when his birth certificate has his entire middle name. This was our second visit. How much productivity in our workforce is lost each year to such stupidity? Between myself and my son taking off from work (I was his second verification of residency) for a second time, we gave up 16 hours of economic productivity. Our first attempt, a week earlier, failed because we lacked a bank “statement.” We originally had a letter from a bank showing his new account - which was refused because it wasn‘t a “statement.” Another fool’s rule enforced to the letter because people can’t think for themselves. This lost productivity time does not include a 3rd visit to PennDOT.

I am told that following the letter of the guidelines put forth in issuing licenses, that this is policy. Did someone actually specify that the middle name on a SS card has to be spelled fully, if it is so on the birth certificate? My own card has only the middle initial, as most Americans applied for their SS card using only their middle initial (I am 49) at a time when the application only requested it. Did someone actually specify that nothing but a “statement” is acceptable, when the bank issues a typed letter with account information on a letterhead, with an attached business card? Is common sense now missing from government employees?

People have a valid out-of-state license, an original birth certificate or passport, 2 forms of proof of residency, but because their SS card uses a middle initial they are denied a license. They have proof of a bank account, but because it doesn’t show their balance, they are denied a license because it isn’t a “statement.” Stupidity reigns in America - from the top down.

All in an effort to make us feel safer through inconvenience. If the American citizen believes that because they must jump through hoops to accomplish getting a license and are denied on the simplest detail, then it must be impossible for a terrorist or lawbreaker to achieve the task. There are those of us intelligent enough to realize that such false security is nothing more than window dressing, done in an effort to make us believe that those who want to harm us, can’t. Get realistic and stop making our lives more difficult than it already is with useless laws, rules and guidelines that serve no purpose, other than to make the working class American more frustrated than we already are. At the very least, give those in charge the ability to make a rational decision in issuing a license under the circumstances described above.

Before 9/11, I transferred a Wisconsin license to PA. I handed over my Wisconsin license, showed proof of residency, and took a brief test. I don’t feel any safer with the new “security measures,” now in place.

In a related matter that occurred on July 12th, 2008, at the above Lehighton Valley PennDOT facility, I was witness to some of the rudest and disturbing conduct by state employees I’ve seen in quite some time. During the entire incident I was less than 10 feet away.

A Latin woman waited a significant amount of time in line to receive her ticket, where she would then have to wait an even longer time to see a PennDot representative. She informed the receptionist that she had two matters to deal with and asked if the one counter she was assigned was where she would have to go for both. She was told it was, but she would have to take care of one at a time - she would have to get back in line, wait to get another ticket, and then wait again to see a clerk. She asked if she could simply receive a second ticket to avoid the wait in line. She was told, no.

At this time the woman was irritated. Though easily recognizable as irritated by her voice and attitude, she was keeping her composure and asked to see a supervisor. The receptionist, a physically challenged gentlemen refused to get a supervisor and ordered her out of the line. She refused, stating that she wanted to see a supervisor first and she was not waiting in line again to do so. Again, she was obviously irritated, stating this was her second visit with her mother and she didn’t want to make a third visit, but she held her composure.

The receptionist then got up, went to the security employee and told him that, “She is out of here.”

To her benefit she refused to go. I think most people realized that she was within her rights and many of us were voicing our opinion about it. She held her ground until a supervisor appeared (after the receptionist went to him and they huddled in conference).

The supervisor presented himself as a bigger ass than the receptionist. In a tactic of intimidation, before she could say anything, he immediately spoke to her angrily and in a demeaning manner, telling her she was abusing an employee, he wouldn’t allow it, he had heard it all, and any employee can refuse a customer service. I am pleased to say that she didn’t buy his little tirade and stated her own position about the events.

If the employees at Hoover Ave. are intent on getting a reputation as a place to avoid, to lessen their work load, then they are succeeding. I myself, recently went to the Lehighton PennDOT on Rte. 443 to avoid having to deal with Hoover Ave. While waiting at Lehighton, the conversation came up regarding PennDOT and the waiting. Also surfacing in the conversation was the Hoover Ave. facility.

Two of the three people I was in conversation with drove from Allentown (approx. 30 mins.) to avoid having to deal with the attitudes and rudeness at that location. The third person was a local in the area, but had “heard about them.”

I would suggest someone in authority speak with the employees at Lehighton Valley to address the issues of dealing with the public, what it means to be a public servant, leadership skills, people skills, and how to treat customers. If they don’t want to be there and don’t want to perform their job civilly, then perhaps they should find employment elsewhere.

Sincerely,