Sometimes, I feel like a character in a Kafka novel, being tortured by a nameless, faceless bureaucracy.

Ian started his extended school year yesterday. I woke the boys up at 7 am, fed them some Corn Chex, packed their lunches, and waited for Ian’s school bus. It never came. So, I dropped off Jonah at his camp a half hour early, and then drove 40 minutes away to Ian’s school to get him there 30 minutes late.

I came home and made angry phone calls. I made 15 angry phone calls. Most the time, nobody was in their office, so I left threatening messages. There are five different bureaucrats that have to touch the paperwork to get Ian on a school bus, and one of those bureaucrats f@cked up. At the end of the day, Ian’s bus situation was still not in order. So, I picked up Jonah from his camp at 2:00 and took him for a second lunch at McDonald’s. Then, we drove 40 minutes to get Ian and came home. This morning was more of the same.

Meanwhile, I’m coordinating Jonah this summer. In the past, I’ve sent Jonah to a day camp that kept him occupied from 9 to 4. This summer, things are working differently.

Jonah works from 9 to 2 at the camp at the town Y. The camp is incredibly unstructured and random, but it’s a nice learning experience for Jonah. He’s one of the few male counselors, so the little boys are on him like glue. He says that the little kids tackle him, and he walks around with them holding onto his legs.

After camp, he has a couple hour break, where I basically just feed him. Then he goes to soccer practice from 5 to 9.  It’s in the huge high school field, where girls hang out in the stands to ogle the boys. He’s preparing for the high school tryouts for the soccer team. We’re only doing a few days of soccer camp, but the other crazy parents have their kids at other soccer camps all summer. The tryouts use up the entire second week of August. Families plan their summer vacations around these tryouts.

So, I’m rather exhausted with driving and bureaucracy hassles.

Let’s come back to bureaucracy hassles. We have two threads going on right now about the insanity of institutions. We’re talking about the stupidity of our health care system and the stupidity of higher education. These institutions cater to those who know the rules and have the privilege of education or special jobs that allow them to fast track their way through the system. Others aren’t so lucky.

Maybe I’m in a grouchy mood, but I feel like the insanity is growing. CUNY, an institution that I’m all too familiar with, is paying David Patreus a salary of $150,000 to teach one class. Adjuncts, who teach the lion share of classes at this institution, are paid $3,000 per class.

The inequities, cruelty, and irrationality of these institutions are universally despised. Liberals and conservatives alike are not happy with these outcomes. Why is there no political will to make changes?