Low Expectations

A columnist at The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, MA shares his experience in calling Social Security's 800 number to get some help. He was delighted to wait only nine minutes to speak to a person. He was willing to share his happiness with the world even though there are strong suggestions in his account that the person at Social Security with whom he talked never took care of his problem -- a monthly Social Security check that never arrived. Instead, he was signed up for direct deposit, which may help prevent the problem in the future, but which does nothing about the check that is already missing. Perhaps, he will not stay delighted if the missing check never shows up and he has to call back a few more times before he gets his money.