Early on a couple of people said that there were problems filing online. My wife and I took this at face value and decided that their suggestion of carefully filling out the forms and either mailing them in or dropping them off at the office downtown was probably the way to go.
We opted for that. I also decided to get a little coaching from the Social Security people. I figured on calling one of their phone services.
Having dealt with government types before I knew I'd have to do a little shopping. I did not want to deal with a government automaton thermostatically heated to 98.6 void of any real intelligence. I wanted a human being that didn't fluster if you asked them a question out of the program they had wired into their head by a government manual. I wanted a person that could think. I knew it would take time.
I put the laptop next to the phone, opened my SS account and dialed the number. As to be expected I had a wait until I got through. When I got through she gave me her name and asked me what I needed. I introduced myself and asked her how she was doing. She replied, "fine." in a bored tone of voice of a long time bored government employee and I hung up on her and redialed the number.
After another wait the cycle repeated itself and I hung up and redialed. I had to wait about another 20 minutes until an agent got freed up. I attribute the waits to being that I was calling on a Monday morning.
He answered the phone with a bit of an upbeat tone and asked me what he could do to help me. When I asked him how he was doing he said in and amused tone, "Well, it is Monday." I knew then and there I'd hit paydirt.
I introduced myself, told him my laptop had my SS account open on it, gave him my name, the last four of my SS number and said I was over 70 years of age. Then my mouth ran away with me. "In fact, I am one hundred and forty four years of age."
He laughed and asked me how I managed to get to be 144 years old.
"That is because I don't drink no cheap booze," I replied. Only whiskey off the top shelf and plenty of it,"
He laughed and I explained that I wanted to do things right the first time and would he go over the forms with me to insure no foul ups.
He agreed to help me out. He had my account over and he told me to open a certain form and walked me through. I told him I had one in front of me that I had printed.
We walked through it and he went through my file and we walked down the form line by line and he corrected a small mistake for me and then told me to bring it to their attention that I was 70 in the comments box. "While they'll probably figure that out, it can't hurt." he said. Seventy is a magic number to Social Security.
We went over some other things and got everything squared away and he said I was good to go and asked me why I didn't file it now electronically.
I told him that word on the street among seniors is that a number of people filing electronically have had problems and that I was going to print everything up and deliver it downtown in person.
"Clever animal," he replied. "Frankly I've heard that a time or two but I think the errors are a result of improperly filled out forms. Still, if you have time going downtown can't hurt." His inflection told me that going downtown was a good idea. He was on a recorded line and couldn't outright confirm or deny any rumors because the SS people want people to file online.
I thanked him and he told me I had made his morning which I believe because he deals with any number of scared and sometimes frustrated and angry seniors all day long. I was glad to give him a little lift on a job that sometimes needs a little help and as a result he went overboard to help me.
I printed everything out, grabbed a quick snack and an hour later I was in the downtown SS office, waited about 10 minutes until my number was called. I turned in my forms and went home.
A couple of days later I checked my SS account and sure enough the messages started coming in and a few days later copies came in the mail. (I had opted for paper in addition to electronics)
Very shortly after that I got word they they were going to deposit my check in my bank account. They were good tot heir word and if has flowed flawlessly ever since.
Let's look at how I did this.
First, I had a plan. My wife and I did out homework and figured out the procedure over an evening or two. I knew what I wanted. I wanted someone to go over my application and check it for mistakes to insure it went through the first time.
Next I asked for help. Real help and not some tired, bored automaton behind a phone that really didn't give a damn about whether someone got taken care of or not. That's why it took me three tries to find a human being instead of a programmed automaton.
The next thing that had to be taken into consideration is how to treat him which for me was a no brainer. All I had to do was look at his customer base, mainly seniors, many of whom are scared, confused and cranky. Many are older people in unfamiliar waters. Some think they are entitled and many are not looking for someone to help them and guide them through untested waters Many are looking for a wand waver, someone with a magic wand they can wave and make everything all rainbows and unicorns. They often get angry when they find out that they have not done their homework and can't be helped without finding some piece of paperwork or meeting some requirement. I figured if I could entertain the man a bit it would uplift him and make him a little more eager to help me. That's what the 144 years old/cheap booze comment was for.
As a senior it was my job to be prepared as best I could and try and make it so something could be done. I had opened an account (many don't) and read and reread the various procedures. I had a pretty good idea of what I had to do already. I was just looking to have my work checked.
What I wanted to do was make an often dismal job a little easier for the man I was talking to. If I did that it would certainly motivate him to be helpful. It doesn't take a whole lot to do that. A cheerful, patient attitude is a must and be ready for disappointment because there's a chance you don't have everything you need.
Early on I realized I didn't have to conjure up my birth certificate like a lot of people and later figured out that it was because the Social Security people already knew who I was from both the Army and the Coast Guard. Way back when my USGI serial number was also my Social Security number. Later they changed that but I paid SS when I was in the Army. That put me ahead. I had opened an online account and that put me ahead. The online account that was already open on my laptop meant we were 'on the same page'. This made it easier for BOTH of us.
Anyway, we waltzed through it.
Actually there's another excellent resource for people applying and that's any nearby halfway decent senior center. Most of them can waltz through the paperwork and get you squared away in no time.
It's not hard if you are willing to shoulder a little individual responsibility and do your part.
Before the Social Security guy hung up on me he laughed and said, "I was going to tell you to put your spiel about being 144 years old and not drinking cheap booze in the comments box but thought better of it. Either some idiot would have penalized you for not filing at 70 or given you about 75 years of back pay which you would eventually have to return after the IRS went nuts and gave you tax troubles." We both shared a good laugh over that one.
We parted company amused and both of our days were better for having met.
To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this:
http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY
