How to waste an entire morning on a masterpiece of administrative efficiency?

Today’s mission: obtain a simple stamp on a piece of paper. Not a 300-page file, not an international investigation. No. A stamp. The kind of task you’d assume takes 12 seconds, stopwatch included.
Appointment scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Out of sheer personal excellence (and mild naivety), I show up at 9:00. Because yes, I like being early. I also like believing it actually matters.
9:30 a.m.: no one. The office is empty, but not just empty — empty with authority. The kind of empty that makes you feel like you’re the problem.

Minutes go by. Then tens of minutes. Then an entirely new era. The waiting line grows, we start recognizing each other, exchanging knowing looks, practically ready to form a support group.
11:00 a.m. Two hours after my arrival. The long-awaited individual finally appears. Calm. Relaxed. As if returning from a well-deserved brunch after an already productive morning (for them, apparently).
They take me in. Stamp the paper. 5 seconds. Maybe 6 with momentum.
And then, with Olympic-level composure:

“You could have scanned it and emailed it to me, I would have stamped it and sent it back.”
Ah.
Yes.
Of course.

Because that was obvious. Because I absolutely love wasting two hours of my life just to discover simple solutions after the fact. Because clearly, mentioning when booking the appointment that I only needed a stamp was just decorative information.

And let’s be honest: if we’re already at 1.5 hours late for an appointment you scheduled yourself, I imagine an email would have taken what… 6 months? Maybe a year, with optional confirmation receipt.
Anyway.

How to turn a 5-minute task into a full-blown quest.

How to involve a qualified professional for something any amateur stamp enthusiast could have handled.

How to not even check the document before placing the sacred administrative stamp — because why bother with details when blind trust works just fine?

A masterpiece.

Looking forward to the next step: asking for a signature.
I’ll make sure to take the whole day off.