The government shut down for 45 days beginning in early October of 2025. I applied for Social Security October 31, giving them the recommended 90 days before I planned to start receiving benefits in February.
They said it would take about 30 days to approve my request.
I called about 45 days in, since I had not heard anything, and got a rude angry-acting lady. She told me I should not have called and to just trust the system. THEY would let me know when they had made a decision.
That interaction lowered my expectation of ever getting any kind of good outcome.
Yesterday, January 21, marked 81 days, so I called them.
I got all manner of circular run around with the different numbers they said to call. Eventually I was placed on hold for the regional office. While on hold, for two and a half hours, the scratchy computer-generated voice, that sounded worse than the speaker at McDonalds, told me, every few minutes, about how to apply for SNAP benefits and about the laws related to disability claims.
I may have responded with some unprintable words. I was definitely getting edgy.
At one moment of desperation, I even considered applying for SNAP benefits since it seemed that they wanted me to have them and I had plenty of time to apply.
After about two hours on hold, it occurred to me to switch from PERCEPTION to PERSPECTIVE. When my emotions are getting agitated, that is my signal to switch.
PERCEPTION
What am I experiencing?
What is happening for me?
PERSPECTIVE
What is the other person experiencing?
What is happening for them?
Operating in perspective means taking the lead and not responding emotionally.
It honors others. It elevates the interaction.
Lord, what is happening for the person that is going to answer my call?
What are they experiencing?
What came to mind was the 45-day government shutdown and the millions of short-fused, ripped-off senior citizens who had their applications delayed, all yelling at her at the same time.
I would quit that job. Or get fired first.
The people that keep showing up for that job are either very committed or stuck.
After two and a half hours of listening to the same annoying distorted 10-second jingle repeat constantly, a weary monotone woman answered and begin asking the standard scripted questions to verify that I was who I said that I was.
I switched on Kind Mike.
I stepped out of my narrative and into her story.
I sincerely honored her.
There was not a hint of anger or annoyance in my voice.
Because I was not angry or annoyed.
Because I was in perspective mode.
I did not anticipate incompetent behavior. I simply felt compassion for this exhausted civil servant. I prayed for her peace and comfort every time that she put me on hold.
The main story here is not that Mike was nice to someone.
The bigger and better story is that when we transition from how we are being affected to what is happening for the other person, the motivation and outcome automatically shift to something with more life. We change from the Me channel to the You channel. It feels eternal and meaningful.
After about 15 minutes of conversations and holds she told me that she had upgraded my application to S.O.S. status and that I should get a call or email within a few days with an update.
I responded, “Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you for coming to work today.
I know your job must be painful, especially now. I just want to thank you for helping me today.”
There was a long silence.
Then her voice told me that she was responding through tears.
We wrapped up the call and we both went on with our days a little more whole.