What Are We Doing To Improve

by imageguy

I have kept procrastinating about writing this blog. Every time I think I have the subject, another takes precedence. Since moving to New Mexico, I have been struck over and again by how ineffective our systems are that we count on daily. Let me elaborate.

I began back in July the process of moving my LLC (my art business) from New York to New Mexico. This requires a filing of papers with NM Secretary of State which must include a document called a Certificate of Status (COS) from New York saying this company is in good standing essentially. This document, once issued is good for only 30 days from date of issue. It takes a $25 fee and about three to four weeks to get this. So I waited patiently and when the COS arrived, sent it with my $100 and the additional paperwork, to NM.

I waited about 6 weeks for some reply and finally contacted the Secretary of State’s office to inquire about the status of my application. Their reply was, “Oh, we sent you a rejection notice weeks ago.” My reply was, “No you didn’t.”  Then the next day, I get the rejection notice. Seems I put something in box B instead of box A. Of course, by this time, my COS from New York has expired, so to refile, I need another COS. So, send another $25 and request to New York and wait another 4 weeks.

I have informed delivery from the post office so they send me a photo by email of mail that I should expect to see in my mailbox. So, after waiting the weeks for the new COS I finally see a message from USPS that it is to be delivered. But three days later still no mail. I go to the local post office. They say we’ll look for it but otherwise, duh! It never shows up. It takes me a week to find out that for some unknown reason, USPS has sent several pieces of my mail, including the COS and two bank statements, back to the sender. WHAT?

Another $25 to try and get COS number 3. Wait another 4 weeks and what shows up but the COS that was returned (now expired) and a day later, the new COS. Finally, I am able to send in the corrected paperwork and the replacement COS to New Mexico. Wait another 4 weeks and get another rejection notice, still something filled out incorrectly. Again, they could not possibly notify me until after the new COS was past 30 days in age. I have requested COS #4, another $25, another 4 week wait. Ready to tear my hair out, what’s left of it. Still am not registered in New Mexico over 7 months later.

To add insult to injury, I get a notice from NY State, my 2021 business return is being audited. So, I sent in over 150 pages of documents and receipts for all my claimed deductions. A few weeks later NY State replies, “You owe us $2700.”  I contact my tax preparer and enlist their help. But I must let NY know that I am disputing their claim. In order to let them know, they say the best way is to do so online through your tax account. I open my tax account with NY, and it shows nothing about the audit. I click on the link they sent me, and it takes me to a page that says “log in”. I’m already logged in. But once on this page, evidently not. So I log in again, go back to the same page. And again it says “log in”.

As I investigate the page they have sent me to, designed to allow you to respond to numerous types of letters from the tax department, I see it has two buttons on the page. One says “respond to form #642-E” or something to that effect. The other button says, “respond to another letter”. I click on that button. My form that I received is a form 650-E.  I scroll down the list to the reference my number and it says for “unemployment benefits”. Wait! I don’t understand!

I call the help number at the tax department. Of course, it has an automated system saying, “if you are calling about X, press one.” And so on for about eight or nine departments. You must listen to at least six or seven of these before you can determine, oh, I should have chosen number two!  Number two, of course, takes me to someone who says, “This is not the department that can help you, I will transfer you to someone who can.” She then transfers me to a woman who, when I explain that I am confused because the website says responding to a form 960-E is about unemployment benefits, but my form 960-E is about business income tax, she says, “well, I think you should respond to it anyway even though it says ‘unemployment benefits’.” I tell her I am worried that if I do so, that it will end up unrecorded in the correct place and I will end up with greater penalties and interest. She says, she doesn’t know and I should do as she is telling me. So, I mailed in my response by certified mail, return receipt, and gave up on the online system, where it should be the easiest path. NOT!

This is what we face every day. People in help positions that do not know the answers, online pages that should be there to help you, but instead only confuse.  Your call is transferred, you wait on hold for 15 minutes, then you get disconnected. You call back and have to go through eight levels before you get to a real person again, and they don’t have the answers. Or, you’re talking to a service in Mumbai and cannot even understand your fast talking agent. Customer service rarely exists anywhere anymore. The customer has been abandoned for the sake of profits or reduced budget. And anyone who thinks government or business support websites are “convenient” lives in a wonderland. We all know better.

On another note, as long as I am pointing out my disillusion with humanity, I have noticed on my Facebook Page, in some of these stupid Instagram and Tick Tok videos that I get hooked into watching (they are addictive and highly ridiculous in many cases) that people are on the streets of America asking the simplest questions of young Americans, and they can’t answer stuff they should have learned in elementary school. How did these people even get out of school in the first place? Our education system is in deep trouble. Kids today have their faces too glued to their phone and live in a world of electronic ignorance. They can’t even name the countries that border our country, or the capital of the USA. They can’t do basic math. When asked, “if you were born 10 years ago, how old would you be today?” They stutter and stammer and say, well, I’m 22, so I guess I’d be 12.  When asked, what state is Utah in, they don’t even realize it’s a trick question. It makes me very worried about what is coming for our country when people are so incredibly ignorant, can’t add and subtract, don’t know basic geography or history. With Ai taking the place of logical human thought and experience, and the overwhelming dependence on social media and algorithms that shape our lives, where will the new generations take this world, or will tech run rampant and eliminate logical thought all together. It is no surprise that our country’s political system is in chaos, and technology, social media, and unchecked misinformation are to blame for becoming the educator of the ignorant. What have we done to ourselves?

Put down your phone. Turn off the TV. Read a book. Study nature. Talk to people and teach them. Please!

Peace.

Imageguy