Back from New York. Getting there via JFK airport was an experience.

On the plane I filled in the usual visitor entry forms plus customs form using the only pen I had with me, namely a red-ink Pilot Vball.

When we reached the immigration officer my heart sank. He had the look of someone who was not there to help people Enjoy Life.

"Do you usually fill out legal documents in red ink?" he asked, his eyes glittering.

"Er no, but it was the only pen I had," I replied.

"You’re not allowed to fill out these forms in red ink," came the acid reply.

I had wondered about this, but as the form gave detailed instructions on everything except the colour of the ink I had pressed on.

So I boldly hit back: "But the form does not say that you can’t".

"It does not say that you can use red ink!" came the reply, as a cobra with a migraine warning a mouse to stand to attention to make the ensuing dinner pass less confrontationally.

"It does not say that you can use black ink either," I observed.

He stared at me as if I were insane. In deep pain he took up his black biro from its position next to a large plastic container full of flourescently coloured sugary candies. And he went through the whole form line by line inking over my red ink in black ink.

"Seems to me that makes it all a lot harder to read," I helpfully pointed out.

I was handed the black biro to sign my name over the earlier red version, which I did. The form now was a mess.

Then at last … we were thru.

So much bureaucratic life is like this – people getting bored and slumping into meaningless procedure which inconveniences everyone including themselves and actually makes the end-product worse.

Had the immigration officer in this case said firmly but with a smile "Hey bud, use black ink next time OK?" the whole process would have gone faster. He would have made his point, and the actual form left with the US side would have been legible.

And he would have been happier in himself and in his work.

Or maybe they use scanners to ‘read’ all these forms so that dark ink really is necessary? If so, why not say so on the form and indeed to us to explain why we unintentionally had made life difficult?

As previously noted, this question of how to train/motivate public servants to have the right attitude ought to be at the heart of public administration. But it isn’t.

Whatever.

We went to MoMA and saw the wonderful Steinberg drawings.