I made an appointment to seek advice from a government department. This was after trying to find some information on the web and by phone and failing dismally.
"Bring two forms of ID, one including your address."
At my appointment, I proffer my two forms of ID--driving licence and passport that have my name, address, date of birth, etc. The assistant looks them over carefully.
He turns to his computer--first moving the screen away from me--and asks for my full name. Then he asks for my address. Then he asks for my date of birth.
As I am trying to get some help from this expert, I bite my tongue and without my looking at the documents of mine he's holding, I tell him what he wants to know.
I'm wondering what would have happened if I gave him different details. Would he notice?
Once the preliminaries are over, I put my question to him.
"I can't answer that," he says. "You need a technician."
"I made this appointment for this specific question so you had notice."
I'm still hoping to get some information so I have now nearly bitten off my tongue.
He calls for a technician but no one answers his call.
"I can't help you. I'll give you a number to call..."
This was where I came in.
Since I may need to refer to this event I ask if he has recorded my visit. After much button clicking on his mouse, he says yes. I don't know what the computer said since I can't see the screen.
I leave wondering if I can sew my tongue back together
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