[UA] The Functionary

[Susan Dohnim]

I'm thinking back to the Big List O' Avatars we constructed a few months 
back, and I recall the Gatekeeper being on there somewhere. Certainly the 
first two examples you give would be excellent exemplars of the modern 
Gatekeeper (with an evil twist, of course).

I don't have the list handy at work, but if someone else does, maybe they 
can make a quick scan.

>Hi all,

Is there an Avatar of the Functionary anywhere?
I'm not really thinking of the Indispensable Servant, more of the faceless 
bureacrat. The guy at the Passport Office who makes you stand in line three 
hours then tells you you're in the wrong line anyway. The Soviet apparatchik 
who processes housing applications but puts yours to the bottom of the pile 
if you have the wrong stamp on it, the Italian tax assessor who assigns 
penalties to you regardless of why you might have been late with your 
return.

The impersonal bureaucrat, the faceless functionary, we all meet these 
people and have frustrations dealing with them. I'd say it's one of the 
great archetypes of the 20th century just past.

Does it have an archetype?

The Loyal Laborer is coming up in MA, but this sounds like something 
different. The LL is more focussed on (1) actually getting things done and 
(2) has more of a blue-collar tone (though you can be a white collar or 
professional LL).

The Helper Who Does Not Help?

Would this be a really fun, enriching avatar to add to the game?

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