DOL Appointment Number One

My first DOL appointment day had arrived and my appointment was at 11:00 in the morning. Why it couldn’t have been earlier I have no idea. So Dolly and I arrived a little before 11:00 and checked in at the appointment window. I didn’t have to stand on line – YAY! We got our number and took seats to wait our turn. My appointment time came and went. At 11:45 I asked when I was supposed to be called since it was well past my appointment time. I was told it wouldn’t be long.

Ten minutes later I was called to the back and shown to a cubicle with a desk and two chairs. Dolly and I sat down and waited for whoever was supposed to be speaking with me. After about ten minutes a woman walked in with some paperwork and sat down. She looked at Dolly and pulled a face; I guess she wasn’t happy that I had my daughter with me. That’s what happens when they don’t provide buses for pre-school. Oh well.

So she gets her pen and tells me she’s doing an employment eligibility screening and then I’ll have to speak to the DOL worker. She said she was just going to ask me some questions. Ok, fine by me. I figured she was going to ask questions about my educational background, work experience, knowledge, and things like that. That wasn’t the case. Apparently an employment eligibility screening is to find out if I’m capable of working. Here were her questions, and I’m not making this up or exaggerating. Ready? Here goes.

Q) Do you have any physical or mental disabilities that would prevent you from working?

A) No.

Q) Have you ever had any problems with drugs or alcohol that would prevent you from working?

A) No.

Q) Do you currently have any problems with drugs or alcohol that would prevent you from working?

Wouldn’t that question be encompassed in the “ever had” question? I would think so.

A) No.

Q) Is there any reason you can think of that would prevent you from working?

I swear I wanted to tell her that if she asked me any more bullshit questions I would definitely develop drug and alcohol problems that would prevent me from working. Instead, I just bit my tongue.

A) No.

Then she put all her papers together and told me to wait there for a few minutes. Twenty minutes later she returned and told me I’d have to return to the waiting area and wait for the DOL dude to speak with me. I guess I passed the employment eligibility screening. With those stupid fucking questions how could I not? So Dolly and I want back out to the waiting area and found a couple of seats. It was about 12:30 and I wondered how long it would be before I was called back there again.

Dolly and I played “I Spy” while we waited and before I knew it an hour had passed. I went to the window at the appointment desk to ask how much longer it would be before the DOL dude was ready to see me. The guy told me he’d check. A few minutes later the same woman I’d seen earlier came to the door to tell me that the dude was running a bit behind but that it shouldn’t be much longer. I asked her how long the interview with him would take once I was back there and she said it wouldn’t be long, about 45 minutes. So I sat down and waited some more.

After another 45 minutes I asked again when I would be called. Since the boys’ bus arrangement had just started I wasn’t sure exactly what time it would bring them back to the shelter and I had to be there before they got there. The same woman told me it wouldn’t be much longer so I asked her if she could let him know that I had to get in and out because I had to meet the boys’ bus. She looked startled; I guess she suddenly understood that Dolly wasn’t my only kid. She went running to the back to speak to the DOL dude to see how much longer he would be.

When she returned to me she explained that he wasn’t their regular DOL worker, he was helping them out while the regular guy was on vacation. She said the he was still in with someone else but that she didn’t want me to miss the boys’ bus so she wanted to reschedule me for the next day. Seriously? She said she’d feel much better if she could reschedule me because she felt bad that I had waited so long already and really didn’t want me to miss the bus. Fine, reschedule me for tomorrow. What time?

She told me to be back there at 10:00 the next morning and she wrote on my original appointment letter so that I wouldn’t get sanctioned for missing my appointment that day. Since I wasn’t seeing the DOL dude that day Social Services would say I hadn’t shown up and sanction me which meant stopping my benefits for a period of 30-90 days. She didn’t want that to happen so she adjusted my letter. That was nice of her, don’t you think? Geez, it was the least she could do after having me wait as long as I had already – and all for nothing.

Feeling really irritated I took Dolly by the hand and left, anticipating what bullshit I’d have to go through the next morning when we returned. If it was as bad as the bullshit I’d been through that day I wasn’t looking forward to it. But it had to be done so I resigned myself to having to spend another day sitting at Social Services. The only good thing about the next day was that Zach was having his moving-up ceremony at school. His school was only K-2 and the second graders had a graduation-type ceremony to move them to the next school where they’d be in the third grade. So I, at least, had something to look forward to after the DOL dude finished with me. I perked up thinking, “Tomorrow won’t be so bad after all.” I found out differently when I arrived for my appointment.

Until next time…peace to all.