Burried in Paperwork!

"I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork. "

Peter De Vries

Pulling myself out of the endless reams of paperwork I have found myself burried under this week its made me really stop to think.......when did our lives that are so technologically based become so completely stunted by the continual dumping of paperwork? In a world becoming more and more oriented by the need to understand computers, why in the world haven't we gotten away from paperwork? I somewhat recall the later years of my education and this organization called "Greenpeace" that called for the reduction of waisted trees. I recall the need to recycle and have on my driveway a huge recycle can that we use each and every week. However, I am still continually amazed by the mass amounts of paperwork that we find ourselves overwhelmed with.

This week I am not only preparing conference forms for my High Schooler who attends one of the most technologically advanced High Schools in the area, I am filling out ticket order forms for my childrens up and coming performance in the King and I, I am filling out High School and Elementary re-enrollment applications for the upcoming school year, Conference forms and mad levels of paperwork for my 8th graders upcoming conference and DC trip, and my younger two's conferences next week. I also have insurance forms, bills, report cards and probably another half dozen forms, or "required" elements that need my signature or some part of my attention given this week. Madness! While Im not one that wants to see the world automated in a way that our foreheads are stamped and we walk into a room and the automation of time knows where and what you are doing as many of the movies we see show and make humor of, I still believe that there is a HUGE waisted amount of busywork or paperwork that as individuals we spend way to many hours dealing with in our lives.

I should add with some humor, that I am not really the only one who feels this way, it was an official act by the White House back in 2003 to actually deal with just this when they implimented the Implementation of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act.

While Im not usually one to notice the above mentioned act, I did stumble across it while writing this and found it a bit amusing :) What a name and no wonder its been forgotten, probably burried in PAPERWORK!

Misdirected focus on paperwork, on procedures, and on bureaucracy frustrates teachers and fails to give children the education they need.
Christopher Bond