A sad, sad story

Well...I think it finally happened...today I am mourning the death of my last functioning brain cell.  It fought a valiant struggle, swinging to they very end but despite every effort...I must announce, that it succumbed today.

I thought I was well prepared and highly experienced...I spent most of my life in the military and the remainder in government service...I honestly felt I could combat the idiocy of bureaucracy and come out on top...oh freinds and neighbors, how wrong I was!!!

I earn what most would deem a very good salary based on my analytical abilities...and I take a great deal of pride in my work.  Do to some recent personnel changes, we find ourselves short in our administrative area.  The decision was made, that to get through this temporary shortage, several of us would be required to prepare and mail or own correspondence.  I'm a team player and have no problem jumping in to pick up the slack!!!

Things were going well until today...(insert ominous music here)...I had to mail my first piece of correspondence!!!  I approached the task with the confidence of a professional...the correspondence had gone through the 97 (maybe a SLIGHT exaggeration) levels of required review unscathed....little did I know a land mine lay in wait!  I prepared the mailing label, stuck it on the envelope, inserted the document and sealed it up.

Feeling a bit smug with my accomplishment, I handed the envelope to the person in the mail room.  With a look normally associated with talking to the village idiot...the clerk handed it back, telling me that the address label was formatted incorrectly.  I stared numbly for a second and explained that it was exactly as it was on the correspondence.  There's the problem he explained, the regulation on administrative issues clearly directs that THE ADDRESS FORMAT ON THE CORRESPONDENCE IS DIFFERENT THAN THE ADDRESS FORMAT ON THE MAILING LABEL.

That's when my last functioning brain cell threw in the towel and gave up the ghost!!!