By Jeff Saporito for Grid World News
Today I present to you a poignant story about respectable ideas buried by poor realization.
Our subject is The eJustice Centre, belonging to the Portuguese Ministry of Defense: “Offering mediation services for all avatars in the resolution of disputes resulting from consumer relations or any other contract-based relations.”
That’s actually not a bad idea. Conflict is constant in Linden, especially when it comes to financial situations. Fights break out endlessly between all types of people and often never get solved because, as fights naturally go, both parties eternally think they are right. This centre may be the best Portuguese invention since… well, whatever the Portuguese have invented. Innovation, as you know, gets me all riled up, mildly erect and quick-pulsed, so I went to investigate.
The place is big; a very sexy building with modern architectural shapes, unnaturally high ceilings, big windows and ultramodern interiors. The “conference halls” look like court chambers, but that’s all fine; in a way they are. Teleporters and stairs are both available for vertical transport. But, before any of that, just inside, is a help desk with a twig-shaped lady sitting at its helm. Next to her stood someone tagged “eJustice builder.” With them seemed a good place to start, since I looked around and saw no other people.
Help desk lady’s name: Tata Palen. Born: July 26, 2007. Otherwise blank profile. Builder: Ejustice Blanco. Born: August 31, 2007. Otherwise blank profile. Holy shit, that was today!
Almost immediately upon receipt of this statistical information, the centre’s downhill snowball began to roll. It was at this point I decided to start asking questions to Tata, hoping to find out there was more to the vacant eJustice centre than meets the eye. Bear in mind they remained the only two people I saw during my eventual 2-hour stay.
I pulled up a seat next to Tata, and asked if there were any mediation sessions today. After a swift “no,” I asked how often that happened. I received the answer of “until now nobody. We open at of 30 July [sic].” I had several problems with this response.
First, the place has been open for over a month and has yet to mediate a single argument. Second, her terrible English skills burned my flesh. If someone cannot communicate English properly in a predominantly English-speaking land, I am uncertain his or her mediation would be very effective. Additionally, I’m unable to comprehend how people who have spent so little time in Linden could possibly mediate relations in such a complex, changing environment, especially stuck behind a desk all day in a tomblike building.
We bantered on and on. I asked about the mediation process, she didn’t know. I asked if anyone had shown interest, she said only “we have many visitants.” After a few more minutes of nothing but waxing idiotic, I offered her a chance to (in one way or another) do her job by putting the eJustice center and the Portuguese Ministry of Defense to a test, seeing if they could talk their way out of trouble if I started fighting with them. What followed was the butter crème icing on the muffin of my opinions:
“I’ll fight with you if you want.” “It is 6. We close. I must go now, by.” “How very neutral of you. Seeya.”
True, they do close at six, but something gave me the impression she wouldn’t have fought anyway.
Obviously the centre was a big letdown; a complete crash of excitement and a shameful execution of an otherwise brilliant concept. Perhaps if we give the place more time to establish itself, advertise, and hire a more competent staff, it could have promise. But as for now, keep on arguing and choking each other with picture wire. Nobody is here to save you.
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If the useless eJustice building isn’t enough for you, check out their equally useless website.