text: Organizational cognitive dissonance I just coined that phrasecopyright by me is nearly impossible to overcomeespecially in a bureaucracy as mired in its own excrement as the State of Arizona Motor Vehicles DivisionnnIt is a discomforting and uneasy thoughtnnIf a clerical person misenters a string of numbers in a computer terminal somewhereit can alter the trajectory of your lifein both good and less good ways the bank just made a mistake in your favoryou have million extra dollarsyayyou tried to withdraw that millionyou are under arrest for Grand LarcenynnIts like a game of hopscotch designed to break your legnnIts the reason people react with uncontrollable explosive diarrhea when they hear the phrase I am from the government and I am here to help younnIts the reason people go postal and climb a tower with an AK and one bottle of water they will not be thirsty for longand it is the reason so many people view the government as a noxious weed growing stronger by the minute feeding on the flayed carcasses of its citizensnnNo not mebut I know people who feel that waynnAlthough I do have good excuses to feel that way for any one of several reasonsthe latest being my time in the th circle of hell known as dealing with the MVDnnThe MVD made a small error on a string of numbers either a person or machineI use quotes for machine because clearly the MVDs computers were manufactured by Charles Babbage circa their brass cogs cams and gears long since ground down to an unusable statennThe result of this was a mismatch between my registration information and my insurance informationeasily resolvedboth numbers are memorialized in many places in many waysyears of insurance recordsyears of registration data for my carthe stamped VIN plate riveted to my carthe letter and printouts sent by my insurer to the MVD verifying coveragea million and one pieces of proofnnIt was easy to see that this was not my errornot an error by the insurance companybut an error somewhere deep within the bowels and I use that word advisedly of the MVDnnSurely they would rectify their error once it was brought to their attentionnnNot so fastSelma and Patty at the MVD say that their data is inviolate and no amount of proof by me or my insurance carrier could change that outlookthe letters were sneered at the VIN on the letter does not match our recordsthe registration does not match the insurance verificationthe registration does not match our recordsnnAfter more than phone calls total time on hold of almost hours letters visits to the MVD and more hassle than anyone should have to bearI was told earlier this week that all was in orderI could return to the MVD and get my tagsnnI showed uptook a numberwaited my turnsat down at window and was told tough luckno go on the renewalnnDid I screamDid I threatenDid I bazooka barf all over the counteryes in my headnnAnd I probably looked like I was about to go postalnnBut I did notI kept my coolme and Obamacool guysto the bitter endnnIn person I once again calmly explained what had happened and showed my MVD service adviser my proof including my letters prior registrationsthe whole wad that I had brought alongjust in casennI may have discovered one of the few helpful people at the MVDcertainly one of the few with an IQ above room temperature and one of the few not completely imbued with the we are the MVDwe do not make mistakes attitudehe called a supervisor of some sort overthey typed for a while in the computer and violaI had a tagnnOh before I forgetthey charged me a late feefor their mistake