July 15, 2004
Lord, throw some brains from heaven
Novala needed a new passport and went into a shop in Vienna where they quickly take digital pictures for this purpose. Four pictures on one sheet. The sales-clerk put a stamp with the name and the address of the store on the back.
Novala: "Could you please cut the sheet? I need four single pictures."
Sales-clerk: "I am not allowed to."
N.: "Pardon me?!"
S.: "I am not allowed to."
N.: "Could you give me a pair of scissors so I can do it myself, please."
S.: "No."
N.: "What?!"
S.: "I am not allowed to. This is an official document."
N.: "I don't need it for an Austrian passport."
S.: "I am not allowed to cut it."
N.: "I don't need it for Austrian authorities."
S.: "I am not allowed to."
N.: "Hey, I'll take it to MY embassy to get a GERMAN passport. YOU don't have to cut it. I will do it."
S.: "I am not allowed to."
N.: "Let me tell you s.th., my friend: If I show up at the German embassy with four pictures all on one sheet - do you know what is going to happen? They will send me home to take a pair of scissors, cut the bloody thing into four equal pieces and come back with two of them."
S.: "I am not ..."
Brains desperately needed. If you find any ship them to Niedermeyer, Reumannplatz, A-1100 Vienna, please.
Posted by novala at July 15, 2004 03:52 PMI think it's a liability issue. I had a similar experience. When they cut into your pictures, you can claim your money back. They want to avoid this financial risk by letting the customer cut/screw up the pictures on their own :-0
In my case, Iasked for a pair of scissors and got them from the clerk. This way I was able to cut the pics in the shop before I had to go to the passport department.
Posted by: Silvia at July 15, 2004 09:03 PMhaa!!
when i went to get my son's passport, the photos we had brought were the wrong size for the passport. the clerk at the passport office gave me directions to the nearest photo shop that would print appropriately sized shots, and even helpfully offered to watch my son for me while i went to get the pictures. the pictures of him.
which i thought was pretty stunning, but may not top the refusal to even give you the scissors to cut your own pictures. maybe she was afraid you were going to stab her in the eye.
brains: apparently, some people are saving them for the zombies.
I went to a shop in Singapore to get some digital pictures taken for my passport. They took two or three pictures and asked me to choose one. They weren't very good so I asked the girl if she could just take another one. She said she was not allowed to!! I insisted and she said that she could not do it. I told her that then I didn't want any and started heading to the door. She followed me and said that I had to pay for the pictures that she took of me with a digital camera!!!
If you find some brains let me know. There's some people in this country that could use them to!!!!