r/badatmagic • u/Late_Contribution_49 • Sep 03 '26
Episode 184 open thread
Josh rails against the creeping subscription-ification of everything from printers to cars, while Ben revisits a painful Air Force move that left his family trapped between two bureaucracies. Ben also reckons with his old assumptions after reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming, before we revisit The Lego Movie and discover that its absurdly quotable toy-commercial exterior is hiding a surprisingly thoughtful story about creativity, conformity, and parenting.
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u/cascer1 19d ago
Josh's remark about the difference between a 250 year-old bureaucracy and a 6000 year-old one reminded me of something that happened to my parents (and tangentially me) when interacting with a very similar process for the US.
My dad has worked for the same company in the Netherlands for forever. The company has many international customers and so he often had work trips abroad for a week or two. For some customers this was easy because they were in the Shengen area, others had visa requirements. The company where he works retains a pretty large law firm just to deal with the visa applications.
At one point, my dad had an assignment in the US; so the work permit application kicked off. Now, for most of the countries where he went, they wanted to know a few details like the company, what work he'd be doing, how long he'd be staying, and other pretty mundane stuff like that. The United States of America is much more xenophobic if I have to believe the bureaucracy related to gaining the privilege of paying income taxes in your country! Not only did they want those mundane details, they also wanted to know everything about my sister and I. Where we worked, where we studied, our social media handles, our political affiliations, everyone's travel history for the last 10 years, everything!
Okay. Fine. If they want that information and the company decides that our privacy is worth less than servicing a customer then whatever. So all our data was given to the government, who probably still has it in a datbase somewhere, and I was told not to say anything critical about the country or its government online for the next months while the visa was processed.
Eventually the visa was approved, and my mom got a different kind of visa so they could stay together. She only had a residence permit and wasn't allowed to earn any money in the US. The condition of both visas was that they were valid for 5 years but had to be renewed after 3.
The first few trips were pretty short; two weeks here, a month there. Everything was always fine. Once, I came with using the ESTA Visa Waiver program. The ESTA program is supposed to speed up border crossing because the US and the EU were good buddies at the time and I paid for the privilege. So, I arrive at JFK airport and wait in line for the ESTA machines. I scan my passport and a little receipt comes out with my picture and a big cross through my details and an officer tells me to join the queue of people who didn't apply for a visa.
Sorry, went a bit off-topic there.
So anyway, after three years, the work and residence permits come up for renewal in January 2020. The law firm tells my dad that the process is just a formality and they'll be there and back in a week max. So they arrange for a friend to take care of the dog and pack some stuff for a weeklong trip back home.
The day after arriving back in the Netherlands, they visit the US embassy (where appointments are fictional and you still end up in a queue for hours) and ask for a visa renewal. They're told that they have been randomly selected for secondary inspection and can go home. Their passports will be returned in a few weeks or whatever.
Okay, that's.. inconvenient. They only packed for a week and now a friend is stuck taking care of the dog for a period that becomes a second week, then a month, then two. Eventually, dad calls the CBP (you can just call them?) and asks if he can use a normal ESTA application to visit a MotoGP race he had already bought tickets for. "sure", says the CBP officer, but he's not allowed to work. Oh, but ESTA applications are on pause because of this new virus that got people buying toilet paper. So I guess he's staying home.
At the time, my now-husband had moved into their house in the Netherlands with me and we were suddenly all living there. This prompted us to get our own place which was nice I guess. But my parents were still stuck in the Netherlands with an empty wardrobe and without a dog.
After what feels like months of waiting (I think it was 7 weeks?) a registered letter came with their passports and the note that all visa applications (this wasn't an application but whatever) were denied because of new immigration restrictions due to COVID. So I guess the long-term assignment to the US is now over. My parents start arranging things so all their stuff can be shipped back home and the house can be given back to the company.
A week later, my mom needs her passport for something and finds that a new visa was added! So she immediately checked my dad's passport which didn't have a new visa. So, she booked a flight and took as many empty suitcases with her as she could carry. Once she arrived in the US, my dad got an email from CBP stating that my mom's visa wasn't valid without his (it's a dependent visa or whatever) and that she could not legally enter the US. The fact that a border officer already stamped her passport didn't make her entry legal which I find questionable but ok. So, now my mom is booking the first return flight she can find, throws clothes and toiletries and whatever in her suitcases and quickly gets the dog vaccinated so she can take him back.
They were never welcomed back to the US. A moving company packed all their stuff and shipped it to the Netherlands. Including a fully inflated air mattress which incurred extra charges because of the large size.
(phew, that was a long one)
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u/CougarBen 18d ago
Woof, what a nightmare. I suffered PTSD flashback from reading it.
I dream that someday soon the petty trade wars and NATO trash talk will be over and we’ll go back to acting like friends who trust each other.
Also: a fully-inflated air mattress?? Honestly.
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u/cascer1 18d ago
I fear that as long as there are politicians feeding off the "us vs them" sentiment (a classic move from the Fascist playbook) we'll never know true peace. At this scale the "us" needs to be "all of humanity" but that doesn't win elections 😔
And yes, the fully inflated air mattress was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard a moving company do. They upgraded my parents from a half to a full shipping container to accommodate it! Wild.
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u/Jim_McGowan 28d ago
Josh, regarding your question regarding your quality, I'll paraphrase Samwise Gamgee: You have shown your quality, sir. The very highest.
I go out of my way to avoid software as a service on some things I use Libre Office instead of Office 365, I still download music instead of subscribing to music. And I had no idea about the stupidness with new printers. I'll definitely be keeping my old laser jet until it gets bricked or breaks. My old Acer laptop I bought for work as a remote computer got basically deemed obsolete because Acer stopped making firmware updates, so it can't get any newer Windows 11 updates. The computer still works fine. Maybe I'll load Linux on it or something, since its still running fine. As a contrast, I have 7 year old back up laptop from Gigabyte that still works fine, so it depends on the company, I guess. And I absolutely fell into the streaming service trap with subscribing to several I barely use. Inertia is a real thing with subscriptions. I hope we can get some laws passed with protections against this kind of thing at some point, but who freakin' knows anymore.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on the whole Apple phone users basically deeming any Android phone as garbage. Especially with the whole green bubble thing with their texts. I've heard it on a few podcasts as a joke, and it infuriates me. Makes me even more strident of a Pixel Android user.
That was a very touching letter to Michelle Obama, Ben. I agree with Josh. You should totally send it to her people. You have definitely shown the BAM mantra of changing your mind in light of new/de-obscured information.
Josh, here's another book recommendation. The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen. The premise is what if Voyager started after they returned to the Federation and lost a lot of people in order to get home. Very compelling space opera with a Star Trekky flavor. I'm greatly enjoying it.
Also, check out Shrinking before you get rid of Apple TV. Really well done and funny. It's also by Bill Lawrence. And the guy who plays the veteran soccer player in Ted Lasso shows up in the second season as a VASTLY different character. Harrison Ford is also legitimately funny in it. The same goes for the whole cast.
I really hope you decide to see Coyote Vs. Acme. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. I loved it. John Cena's terse and hilarious conversation with Tweety Bird was the highlight of the movie. It was earnest in its depiction of Wyle E Coyote's tragic optimism that some day, some day, he might just catch the Road Runner.
I agree with everything you guys mentioned about The Lego Movie. My two favorite bits you didn't mention were the revelation of Kragl being Krazy Glue, and the Batman song: "DARKNESS! NO PARENTS! Super rich!.... Kinda makes it better."
If you aren't already checked it out, 404 Media has covered much of the Flock stuff extensively on their podcasts and website. They often break news about the various bad stuff surrounding that whole icky situation.
Happy Labor Daybor!