New book idea. By the time I get out of all this, maybe I'll be some kind of expert. If I survive it.
I went to the unemployment office today. Halloween Hell and that horrible bar are both denying I ever worked for them, so I had to bring in pay stubs to prove that I had worked there.
The gentleman I spoke with was very helpful, very nice. I learned he's actually a certified high school chemistry teacher, and left CPS back in '09. He's also an Iraq war vet. It makes me sad that he's stuck working for the state. He told me I should apply online, so I think I will, but he also told me I belong in a classroom. It makes me so happy and so sad when people say that. I WANT to be in a classroom. I spent 5 years of college going to school so I could get a job going to school. I want to be a writer, but writers don't make enough to pay the rent up front, you know? I mean, I AM a writer, but nobody pays me for it yet. I figured being a teacher would give me the time and inspiration to write because I could actually pay my bills with a teaching job.
So, apply to be one of those paper-pushers that really don't like their job or the system, and hope for a teaching job down the line, and write my fingers to the bone, and maybe I get some kind of money out of writing? Maybe I move to another state and recertify so I can get a damn teaching job? But I can't afford to move to another state, surely not for a few years (I figure 3-5, considering how much moving within the city sets me back each time).
So how does one deal with all the red tape?
Do exactly as they say.
And then some.
Apply, for whatever it is, and assume you won't get it the first time around. You never know what you need until after you apply, and with the deadlines, you can almost never get all the things in on time, so you end up being denied. Then at least you know what you need. So collect everything you need and reapply. And when they tell you that you don't need copies for yourself, MAKE copies for yourself. It's kind of like dealing with a financial aid office at any college/university.
KEEP EVERYTHING! Keep pay stubs, keep a calendar and mark off your start and end date, and EXACTLY how many days you worked. (Who has EVER asked about that? But you need it.)
Be nice to them! They don't probably like their jobs. They probably want a social form of health care. They're probably working that job because they needed to pay their bills and insure themselves. And they spend every day all day dealing with people who are either trying to take advantage of the system, or actually really need the help, and they know the system isn't working properly, and that humans make mistakes, and that computers get glitchy, so try and be nice to them. They're people too, and they'll help you if you show some personality.
::sigh:: To the internet, to send my qualities out into the netherworlds and pray I hook something...
