Had to share this one. I'm sure others have stories as well so I'll leave the title sort of general to accommodate ...
I had filled out a form for a public sector organization, and since my name was written in katakana, I had left the furigana field blank. In fact, I filled the form out in the presence of one of the staffers at said organization, and we both agreed that furigana on katakana would be useless.
So then, sure as shoot, the form was mailed back to me a week later with a request to fill in the furigana field.
Now, just for the sake of clarification, suppose that my name was written as "ヨコハマー". They've gone to all the trouble of writing a cover letter and paying postage, with a return envelope included, to ask me to write "ヨコハマー” in the furigana field above "ヨコハマー" and mail it back to them.
For those who are confused, the whole point of furigana, which is usually katakana, is to indicate how names, usually written in kanji that might have more than one reading/pronunciation, should be read. Thus the need for phonetic katakana "furigana" above the sometimes confusing kanji.
In short, it's the same as asking me to write "Yokohammer" in a separate field so they know how to pronounce "Yokohammer."
Petty, mindless bureaucracy at its finest.
Looking forward to other stories.