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@sapphire @Humpleupagus @Dudebro @Xenophon @tyler @Jewpacabra @Will2Power yeah

they have a lot of institutional backing, so you have to be careful when dealing with them, but being able to effectively use bureaucratic tools enables you to deal with them more efficiently; the key is to understand that your winning move is to make a specific and personal problem for the bureaucrat who has the power to solve your problem, thereby making his correct move to simply comply and be rid of you

social skills are important; if the person you're dealing with ISN'T empowered to directly solve your problem, then making an enemy of them isn't going to work out well, and commiserating with them is frequently your best move ("we're both stuck in this ridiculous system, I don't want to be a pain in your ass, just hook me up with whoever's ass I need to be a pain in and we cool")

it really, really helps if you know a doctor; a fren with an MD after their name makes them nervous, because they know that while they can bullshit other people all day long, another doctor is a very different story and there be dragons there

it also helps if you understand how to find the organ-grinder quickly; in Hump's case, if there wasn't anybody to discharge his wife, then who was going to be making the call and doing the paperwork for the report? that isn't the sort of thing a CNA is going to be doing, and it's even the sort of thing an RN is probably going to need somebody else to sign off on, so if they can go to that level of trouble they can get a whitecoat to show up from some other department and kick her out the door, especially if she is very clear that she understands whatever risks there are and wants to GTFO

that said, "medical kidnapping" of children is a real thing, they can a do it if they get pissy, and there is a lot of organizational power behind them if they choose to go that route; be advised that the "legal" cures for this can take a long time to work through and while your kid is out of your hands who the fuck knows what they'll be doing to him