# To the moron at the Social Security office today **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 12, 2002, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571 "2002-06-12T02:37:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/1 "2002-06-12T02:37:41Z")
So, there I am, in our small and emptly SS office this afternoon, filling out some paperwork. I get finished, and the woman I’m supposed to take the paperwork back to is waiting on someone else. The someone else turns out to be a 64-year-old man inquiring about whether he should file for SS yet, and how much he’s allowed to earn before it affects his SS benefits. OK, I think, no big deal. So I wait. And I wait. Since, as I said, the office is both small and nearly empty, I can hear every word of the exchange loud and clear. Turns out, after some hemming and hawing, that Mr. Should-I-Apply earns between $70K and $100K. That he has internet access. **And that he is apparently an illiterate moron because the clerk is now reading the [www.ssa.gov](http://www.ssa.gov) webpages to him word for word to explain simple concepts that he could have looked up at home or gleaned from a pamphlet on the nearby rack!** So, I’m no angel, and I’m poorly socialized and I have other things to do with my time; meaning, I started wisecracking. I continued until Mr. Geez-I’m Rich-But-I-Can’t-Read finally gets huffy and leaves. Gods, I hate morons. I especially hate morons who _waste my fucking time_! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/2 "2002-06-12T03:18:21Z")
Umm… O.K. so you’re a rude and impatient asshole who was raised in a barn by baboons, and can’t keep his mouth shut when an older man is requesting some personal face to face assistance. Congratulations… I guess. This is pit worthy? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/3 "2002-06-12T03:27:21Z")
Yes, this is pit worthy, because obviously Squish only wrote this so we could ride his/her arse about how rude he/she is and not comment at all about the elderly gent who was doing what his given right gave him permission to do. What was Squish in for anyway? To collect more unemployment benefits ? ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/4 "2002-06-12T03:37:16Z")
Nope, to clear up some Medicare bushwah. Sure, he has the right to get face-to-face assistance. My main beef was that he was having the poor clerk read entire webpages to him! His questions could have been answered face-to-face in about 15 minutes; he was there for nearly 40. And no, I wasn’t raised in a barn, although I was conceived in one. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/5 "2002-06-12T04:17:11Z")
Newsflash for the other moron in the SS office that day! Not everyone has a computer at home, nor the time available to them to use the ones at their local library (assuming their local library actually has a computer–not all do). And maybe, just maybe, his eyesight wasn’t good enough to read the stuff on the screen anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/6 "2002-06-12T04:47:29Z")
Monty, from the OP: > [@](#): > > Since, as I said, the office is both small and nearly empty, I can hear every word of the exchange loud and clear. Turns out, after some hemming and hawing, that Mr. Should-I-Apply earns between $70K and $100K. **That he has internet access**. (bolding mine) Read the OP before replying next time, ok? ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/7 "2002-06-12T04:47:50Z")
Read the OP, will ya! He has a computer and internet access. Since he was reading along with the clerk through the window and across the counter without glasses, I assume his eyesight was adequate. ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/8 "2002-06-12T04:49:14Z")
And, yes, I already admitted that my own behaviour was far from exemplary. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/9 "2002-06-12T14:36:43Z")
To the moron at the keyboard (that would be me): Doublecheck the OP next time! To the OP: Let me address this comment of yours: > [@](#): > > And that he is apparently an illiterate moron because the clerk is now reading the [www.ssa.gov](http://www.ssa.gov) webpages to him word for word to explain simple concepts that he could have looked up at home or gleaned from a pamphlet on the nearby rack! Maybe he couldn’t read the version of governmentese or “public-friendly government-speak” that the site used. Maybe the guy really is a moron that needed the face-to-face assistance that the SSA office is staffed to provide. And, out of idle curiosity, I’m a tad curious about the paperwork you were completing: Were those forms available online and did you really have to be in line in front of the person behind you? ---
**Author:** ![CRorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CRorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRorex)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/10 "2002-06-12T15:19:00Z")
And nowadays its practically impossible to be unable to read whats on the computer screen. I think win95 on up all have disability profiles, one of which is like a 5x magnifier for text. Move the cursor over the text and a window pops up with letters the size of a dead whale. LOL Face to face service from a federal agency’s office. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/11 "2002-06-12T15:30:26Z")
CR: I didn’t say the office actually provided it, just that they were staffed to do so. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/12 "2002-06-12T15:52:11Z")
Maybe the 64 year old man didn’t understand what he saw on the webpage. Maybe he didn’t know Social Security even had a webpage. Maybe he was lonely and wanted a little person-to-person contact, although a government office seems an unlikely spot to find it. Maybe a lot of things, but of course most ill-bred louts would never consider anything but their own personal convenience. And **Squish,** if you were conceived in a barn, may I inquire as to just what two farm animals you owe your existence? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/13 "2002-06-12T18:47:06Z")
fuck ya all, im with Squish! These FOP’s need to shit-or-get-off-the-pot! I’ve seen people do what hes talkin’ about and it drive me crazy! They cogitate and fiddle and ask the same questions 3-4 times and always get the same answer as before. Goddammit, Man! You have had the last 64 freakin years to gather knowledge and decision-making skills, now USE THEM!, so the rest of us can get on with our existance! You would think that the older you get, the quicker you want to get shit over with, because proportionally, it is taking up _more of the rest of your life!_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/14 "2002-06-12T19:04:18Z")
We do it just to piss off young whippersnappers who wouldn’t have it so damn easy if it weren’t for us old farts but do they give a damn no they don’t and I just wish I could live long enough to see them become old farts so they would know what its like and–what the hell was I saying? Who are you guys? Where the hell am I? What the hell is going on? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/15 "2002-06-12T19:18:36Z")
**CRorex** , having a computer and internet access does not imply knowing how to use a computer or how to search for information on the internet. Or he could be a lonely old man who does things like this just to get some social contact. Who knows for sure (other than the old man)? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/16 "2002-06-12T19:50:30Z")
Sorry, **Squish** , you were out of line. I’m sure the geezer _was_ irritating, but it was most likely not his fault. (Do you make loud comments about people with walkers holding you up at the mall?) My mom avoids being a burden to her children by managing a portfolio of stock and bond investments along with her SS benefits. She is _making_ money. However, she has reached a point where she simply takes longer to process information than it takes younger people. When the people handling her GMAC investments sent her word that they were going to set her up on a phone direction service with EFT, I was delighted (since she had been driving thirty miles each couple of months to “roll over” the funds in person). It took me about a half an hour to explain how EFT worked and how the phone option would save her the hassle of the drive. Once she understood it, she took it on with no problem and has continued manage her investments to make money, but it took me almost a half hour to explain the new procedure–and most of that was simply repeating paragraphs back to her until she was able to digest it. It sucks to be old. She does not enjoy being “a burden” (she’s not) or “taking up people’s time” (she does), but she is living independently, contributing to the economy, and not actually hurting anyone. She contributed to her family and society for many years (and continues today). I figure a half hour here or an hour there is a small price to pay to allow her to maintain that independence. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/17 "2002-06-12T20:07:19Z")
Arrrrrgh. There are few things I hate worse than people wasting my time, be they old, young or somewhere in between. I have less patience than the least patient person you know. That being said, how very, very rude of you, Squish. Not that I’m telling you anything you don’t already know but I hope you’ll be a bit kinder in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/18 "2002-06-12T20:16:13Z")
I’m not an old fart, and have been dealing with the Social Security Disability office (and their website) for the last 3 years. Their government-ese and gazillion forms are VERY confusing - and if I had had the time I probably would have gone down to their office and had them explain it to me face to face. That said, I would have been impatient waiting on the old guy, too. But I **never** would have said anything out loud, fer cryin’ out loud! Didn’t your mama teach you any manners? ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-moron-at-the-social-security-office-today/113571/19 "2002-06-13T06:55:21Z")
Yeah, she did. ☹ So did Daddy. ☹ ☹ Now that I’ve cooled off, I feel really bad about it. The funny thing is, I usually have a lot of patience in public places–don’t care how long peeps take at grocery check-out, the bank, etc. Must have just been one of my “bad days.” Oh, and no–the forms I had to fill out were to get state aid in paying for my Medicare premiums, so they weren’t available on line. Yeah, I’m poor; no, it’s not really my fault that I’m poor. I worked long and hard until I just couldn’t any more. But, I am really ashamed of myself. Mea culpa.