Sofia was told no, and reasonably assumed the no was about her. She assembled records, requested a review, and pursued the decision through a process designed for exactly that purpose.
Four months in, a receptionist mentioned in passing that there had been no stock since spring. Her eligibility had never been in question. The refusal she had been contesting was a quantity problem wearing the language of a criteria problem.
Everyone I spoke to was answering the question I asked. I was asking the wrong question for four months.
She now opens with one sentence: is this about me, is it a shortage, or is it a queue. She reports that it is answered immediately every time and that no one has ever found it rude.
