Matter-of-fact decency
Wednesday, 19 December 2007 01:51 pmI just called HR to try and figure out what to do with my physio reimbursement forms. The HR benefits person for my faculty has gone on holidays already, but her voicemail directed me to call another HR person, who happened to be the benefits person for
melted_snowball's faculty.
She answered all my questions; when I mentioned "my partner" she assumed I meant my male partner, though she apologized for assuming without asking. She said she remembered my name from when d. and I signed up for health insurance in Fall of '01, and in fact remembered a few things about us.
So I got to briefly tell her that one of my favourite stories of moving to Canada was in her office, when one of our first official interactions after arriving was checking the "common-law" box on her benefits form, and it was all so very anti-climactic.
I'm struck that I had expected this interaction to be banal at best and soul-crushingly bureaucratic at worst, and matter-of-fact decency just feels that much more poignant.
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She answered all my questions; when I mentioned "my partner" she assumed I meant my male partner, though she apologized for assuming without asking. She said she remembered my name from when d. and I signed up for health insurance in Fall of '01, and in fact remembered a few things about us.
So I got to briefly tell her that one of my favourite stories of moving to Canada was in her office, when one of our first official interactions after arriving was checking the "common-law" box on her benefits form, and it was all so very anti-climactic.
I'm struck that I had expected this interaction to be banal at best and soul-crushingly bureaucratic at worst, and matter-of-fact decency just feels that much more poignant.