Semi-Bad Day Ended Well

I finally got my closure letter from Maryland Department of Social Services so Kara and I set out for Suffolk County Social Services today. I’m going to apply for my benefits and she’s going to try to see if she qualifies for anything. I don’t know if she will but I do know that I will. This office, though, is like no other office I’ve ever been in before. We got there around 9:30 this morning and the place was packed with people sitting and waiting, as well as two separate lines on opposite ends of the room.

The line on the right was for HEAP which Kara went to first. In case you aren’t familiar, HEAP is the Home Energy Assistance Program that gives qualified people help with their heating bills during the winter months. Kara had no idea that it even existed and if she qualifies it’ll help her tremendously. I can’t get HEAP this year since I don’t have my own home. I was instructed to take an envelope from the shelf next to the “teller” windows. One stack was for food stamps only and the other stack was for everything. I took from the latter.

I get a fat manilla envelope and go stand at the end of the line on the left side of the room. I had about 16 people in front of me so I knew I had plenty of time to fill out the application before I reached the front of the line. Inside this envelope was a stack of different papers and applications but the security guard had said the green/white application was the one I needed. I got to work filling it out while I stood there on line. It took me an hour to reach the front of the line.

When I finally got there I was asked, or, rather, instructed, “Next in line to window two.” So I moved up to window two where a lady took my application, asked me a question or two, made a copy of my application, and stamped both copies “Received”. She told me she’d made a copy of the app for the Medicaid Department and that they would send me an appointment letter in the mail; but that someone from the food stamp department would see me today. HUH?! Why not just do it all together like other States do? (I thought it, didn’t ask it.) Then she handed me a receipt thingy with the number 775 on it and told me to have a seat and wait to be called.

Kara, mind you, had already filled out the HEAP application and had been called to the back for an interview. It was 10:56a.m. and I was just sitting down to wait my turn. From past experience it should’ve taken no more than an hour for my number to be called. In this case, experience counted for nothing. Kara texted me and called me a couple of times from her interview because the intake person needed information about me since I live here too; then she was done. She said she was going to take Big Boy (her oldest son was home from school not feeling well so he was with us) outside to hang out in the car. That was at about 11:30.

At 12:00 she texted me to find out if I was still waiting. Yep. So she said she was going to take Big Boy to get some things done while they waited for me. Good enough. So I waited and waited and waited. My ass and back hurt terribly from the metal chairs in the waiting room. I chatted with two people for a couple of minutes and texted with Kara and “Dan” for a while. Kara had asked if I wanted anything and I’d said I was hungry. You can’t eat in those offices so she got me something from the deli but had to hold my food for me in the car until I was done. What was really irritating was that the case workers coming to the door to call people back for interviews had no rhyme or reason to their system of calling numbers – 735, 641, 106, 864, 1182, 392, 783…Are you fucking kidding me?! If they were calling numbers in order I would have some sense of when I’d be called; this way, though, I had no clue.

Finally, at about 1:30 I went back to the window and asked the same lady why it was taking so long for me to get called when I’d given my application in so long ago. She checked and went in back to find out what the delay was. She didn’t tell me the problem but did tell me it would be another ½ hour before I was called. FUCK!!! Ty was due to get off the bus at 2:20, Zach was due to get off his bus around 3:20 and Dolly had to be picked up in between. I called Kara to let her know so she immediately headed back home to wait for Ty. She called her boyfriend again to come home from work to wait for Zach and Little Boy while Kara and the two other boys went to get Dolly.

Meanwhile, as I was solidifying the pick-up arrangements with Kara on the phone, the case worker called my name; it was 2:00 – three hours after I’d submitted my application, and four hours since I’d arrived in the building. So I went back to do the intake interview and was stunned. In MO and MD, when the case worker is going over the application with you, they are also typing information into a computer; the interview takes about 20 minutes. Here in NY the case worker fills out one extra form – by hand, makes copies of your documentation, and is done. I waited three hours for a five-minute interview.

She explained a couple of things that I already knew, said she was going to make copies of my stuff and asked if I wanted anything from the food pantry. “Sure, thanks.” She came back with my originals, and two bags of groceries. Then I was done. Ready for the kicker? Kara had gotten Ty off the bus and was on her way to pick up Dolly. She wouldn’t get back to pick me up until 3:40, thereabouts; it was only about 2:10. I had an hour-and-a-half to kill so I took my bags of groceries, heavy bags, and walked ¼ mile back toward the aquarium. I didn’t go in but I did sit on the sidewalk near the driveway. First I bought a soda from the gas station next door, and then I settled myself in for the wait.

At least I had reading material; the fat manilla envelope had lots of stuff to read; all about my rights and responsibilities as a food stamp/Medicaid recipient. Woo Hoo!! If I hadn’t had it I might have gone nuts. The time passed semi-quickly, though, and Kara and Dolly were back for me before I knew it. She’d dropped the boys at home so they didn’t have to sit in the car any longer. It was just her and Dolly – and my sandwich. I was starving and that sandwich was awesome – chicken cutlet on a roll with mayo, Thousand Island dressing, Swiss cheese, bacon, onion, and lettuce. It had originally been warm but it was really good cold.

So I got my application in, got to walk a little for exercise (very little but still exercise), got my ride home, and had a tasty meal; not to mention that I know I’ll qualify for benefits. The meat of the day was pretty crappy, sitting there all day with nothing to do; but it ended up being really good and I’m happy about it. I know you are, too; thanks for your support and good wishes.

Until next time…peace to all.