Why can't things just be simple?

Sigh.

So you may remember back in April, I posted about how I was let go from a part time job after only working there for nine days (and not even nine consecutive days). My manager claimed I didn't work fast enough, but I also knew that I didn't fit in well in the culture, as it was made up of mostly high school kids and people who had been with the company for like 15 years. There was no in-between, so I felt uncomfortable as it was, then to be told I wasn't fast enough was just the nail in the coffin.

So I had been on food stamps for awhile, and I did my renewal last month. My mom helped me with the application form since she is used to helping people with them as part of her job...she just told me what to put in the online form and I did it and signed it. So she didn't do it for me per se. I hate being on food stamps, but she was the one who made me apply...it wasn't really my idea to begin with. We reported the nine-day job I had.

Well a couple weeks later, right before the renewal deadline, I got a letter in the mail from the office telling me I needed a copy of my pay stub from this job I had and I also needed to provide them a letter of termination. I wasn't originally given a letter of termination, plus we had lost the copy of my pay stub, thinking we wouldn't need it anymore because I wasn't there very long.

I am now in a wild goose chase with this employer I barely got to know trying to get this paperwork and it's a pain. First, no one called me back for two days, and then when I did get a hold of someone, they told me they had to talk to the payroll department. Fine.

Well now it's been five days since that first conversation, and they still don't have the paperwork. Plus, the person in charge of getting it went out of town, so I now need to wait an extra day to hear ANYTHING. The woman at the assistance office told me I will lose my benefits and will have to re-apply if I don't have the information in two days. She told me I need to tell the employer that I need this information for my benefits, but I feel uncomfortable telling someone I barely know that I am applying for food stamps. I feel such information is too personal to share with strangers...I don't even tell my best friends that I am on assistance. I think it's a private matter that should be kept in the family. BTW, when I talked to the employer, I told them I needed the info for my "personal records".

This should be something that is very easy to get, yet it is as difficult as possible. No one is cooperating even though I am trying my best to get the info requested. I am doing what I am supposed to; I just wish people would come through for me for once.

Oh yeah, I also had an interview for a full-time job a few weeks ago. I made a follow-up call on Wednesday, and no one has returned my call. It's upsetting because I thought the interview went well and one of the people I interviewed with talked to me about what benefits I would get, the hourly schedule, the work I'd be doing, etc. We were smiling and joking around after the interview, so I thought I was in. I guess not.

My birthday is next week, and I can't even look forward to it right now. Not when I am stressed to the max with unemployment and burned out on looking for jobs, plus dealing with uncooperative people. I never thought my life would be like this...there just doesn't seem to be a way out from any of these problems. I keep doing everything right, but nothing seems to fall into place.

God what a pain in the a** It seems like people just love to make things hard.

I know. I don't understand why people just can't cooperate. I do my best to help others out as soon as possible when asked, but when I need the help, they can't be bothered to do the same thing.

My mom just got home from work not that long ago, and as luck (I guess you could call it that) would have it, she knows a supervisor at the assistance office who may be able to help out. My mom doesn't actually work for the assistance office, but her job involves working with them. She said she will call tomorrow and try to get things moving for me. Sometimes I wish I didn't need to lean on my mom for help since I'm 25 years old, but sometimes you need to use whatever resources you have I guess.

I wish I had never taken the job I ended up losing in April. I had a gut feeling the culture was wrong for me, plus the pay was only minimum. However, I was desperate and felt the unemployment office would somehow find out if I didn't take the job (even though in PA, I have yet to be asked for a job application log and if I refused a job offer), so I believed I didn't have the choice and jumped into the job. I regret it so much right now. It was a less than two-week job and it has completely messed up things for me. I even lost unemployment for a month and just got back pay last week because they had to investigate, plus they mailed out the form to the wrong address somehow and I had to get another address, so the employer got more time to return the form and...ugh it's just soooo frustrating.

Man I am sorry. I have had a few temp jobs and they do just complicate the situation. Who actually gets a termination letter??? You're lucky if you can get the jerks to give you a W-2 at the end of the year and that is the law. I just went on an interview and yes, you think they go well but they just want to show they interviewed some folks so they can turn around and hire who they were going to before they bothered. I am sick of being played with and used for interviewer's practice. It takes gas and time, not to mention mustering empty hope AGAIN to be slapped down. I am so sorry you are caught up in the red tape nightmare. This world just sucks sucks sucks sucks.

Hey, nice comment about your Mom helping you. You keep being thankful for her help and pushing forward, you'll be ok. Your head is in the right place. I was offerred a temp job during tax season, I would not have cleared enough pay during the qtr to qualify for UI benefits, so yes those types of jobs can mess up other benefits you have in place.

I forgot to mention that in each of the two times I have spoken to my old employer, the woman who is the manager talks really fast like she is trying to rush me off the phone. I can understand why she may not want to deal with me, but at the same time, I don't want to be doing it anymore than she does! It's not like I am jumping up and down in excitement with trying to call her. Too many people are so rude these days.

It's NOT YOU --- this is the new normal for our world, sadly...

I try to tell myself it's not me. My older sister, who has a master's in English and TEACHES for a living reviewed my resumes for me. She said both looked fine and only made one minor suggestion for me to fix it. Maybe it's wrong, but I trust my English teacher sister to look at my resume more than I trust some lazy worker at the career center to look at it and fix it.

So if my resume is fine according to my sister, then how come all of the employers I have applied to don't agree? I don't send out resumes with spelling errors, I organize everything in bullet points, I list accomplishments...and I still don't get calls. Who the hell are these people getting interviews and jobs?

I also dress up for interviews, although I guess I've been hurt because it's rained for a couple of interviews I really wanted to go well. Guess the weather, which ruined a look I had worked so hard to put together, was my fault. The weather was so extreme on a couple of my interviews that even though I had an umbrella, it even blew around and didn't keep me covered.

I really do believe I am the problem at times, but it's hard to know for sure. I try to tell myself that I am overlooked because way too many people apply for one job these days and that I wouldn't be as overlooked if things were better, but it hardly helps.

Or maybe I'm just stuck because I don't have a huge network and am not well connected, and that's practically what you need for a job these days. I always wonder what people who AREN'T blessed with people willing to do favors for them are supposed to do. Just say "sucks to be me" and go away? Seriously...none of my friends or family members that I am in regular contact with have offered to get me a job. I guess that means I should be unemployed forever, eh?