Helpdesks

The problem all began when people made things too complex for other people to understand. In the bureaucratic mazes, it was already difficult to locate the object of one's quest. Then the bureaucracies went online and many of the members of such organizations suddenly found that they themselves could not understand the new paradigm.

Hence, the rise of the helpdesks.

But these helpdesks, manned by eager but quickly tiring servitors, proved to be yet another layer in the rapidly evolving wall of inadvertent obfuscation. Sometimes they did not understand either the people trying to get things done through the bureaucracy or the bureaucracy that was supposed to get things done.

For example:

1. Please enter your account with your username and password and click 'Login'.
2. Access your services by clicking 'Services'.
3. Select 'Invoices' to see if you need to pay any fees.
4. If you have difficulties, contact helpdesk at [redacted] or email us at [redacted].
5. You cannot access your email unless you have logged on.
6. Your access will be withdrawn if you have not paid any fees.

And after all that, yes, you may contact the bureaucracy.

This is the kind of situation for which you contact the helpdesk. But the helpdesk may not understand you. For a start, they will assume you have a username, provided by the bureaucracy which you must contact in order to obtain a username.

I feel sorry for the people who man the helpdesks of the world. Nobody understands them, and I wonder how often they ask themselves what they are doing there anyway.