Cavorting with the healthcare gods

Visited two buildings in the morning and was fortunate in finding parking at both places...passed through security, and went up to the information desk.

I told them that I had applied for healthcare in December through Covered CA and received information that I was eligible for Medi-Cal.  The lady asked me to write down my address to figure out which district was designated for my city. (There were two.)

As she looked up my zipcode in a book of maps, I saw a sheet in her inbox that listed my city under one of the districts and pointed at it. "My city is listed here. Does that make a difference?"

"No," she didn't even bother to look at it. She handed me a slip marked with the name of the other district.

"You can reapply for Medi-Cal, but keep in mind that processing the application can take up to 45 days. We'll take you as a courtesy, but for future reference, next time you should go to Pasadena."

Then she directed me toward lobby C, for the El Monte people. So I went, with my little slip marked "El Monte" and "Medi-Cal" and "Courtesy."

There were many people at many different stations waiting on others. I saw a line of about 20 people and figured I might have to go wait in it.

"Do I need to wait in line to apply for Medi-Cal?" I asked a secretary. She nodded.

I got in line. More people quickly filed behind me. There was a young mother with an actually kind of cute baby right in front of me. There was a mother with a crying baby on the other side. I stood in line and read my book for a little while, but I was like, what grim, placid hell is this?