With reference to the article "An adventure at the passport department" by Mahmoud Ahmad (Sept. 30), I had a similar adventure or misadventure at the Civil Affairs Department, the same experience I encountered when I registered the birth of my child. The lack of correct information and being told to go to different offices by officials was unbelievable. I went to the Civil Affairs because the online booking system was not working. When I turned up there, no official would like to see me because I had not booked for an appointment online, although they knew that the online booking system was down. It was mind boggling. Ramon Mohamed, Online response II. This is the world we live in. People will always try to make short cuts in doing business in public offices and elsewhere if they think they can. That's also true in many place in Saudi Arabia. Whether at the customs, airport, causeway, traffic office, you will notice people trying to get ahead of the others. It's a selfish social behavior that you can only dream will not happen in a civilized world. It's always me, me, me and only me. Shocking, really. Bravo, Online response
