You’re Kidding, Right?

I called the Unemployment office a couple of times Monday. The lady working the switchboard kept sending me to the voice mail of people who don’t answer their phones or return calls. I had to work at the kennel yesterday, but I tried calling again, with the same results. This morning, I was at the office when they opened. I was thinking maybe I’d wait for a while and then someone would push a button and we’d move on from there. Boy, was I wrong. The lady at the desk informed me that yes, my problem would be fixed with the simple push of a button, but it wouldn’t be fixed today. Or even this week. They’re all much too busy to push that button. So I have to go back to the office Monday at 2:30 so someone can push the button. And since the delay is so long, they’ll have to retroactively file my wait week and my first drawing week. And then I can do a normal file for my second drawing week. With any decent luck (although I’m not holding my breath), I’ll have two weeks of unemployment money deposited by Thursday, Jan 7 – just in time to pay the mortgage. I pointed out that the switchboard lady never mentioned that I’d need an appointment for this excessively complicated task, and that she kept sending me to voice mail. The desk lady said the switchboard lady isn’t trained in claims issues, so what else could she do? I replied that maybe they should train the switchboard lady to the point that when someone says they’ve already called several times, she should tell them they need to come in and schedule an appointment. But then again, maybe that’s just too much to expect from someone running a switchboard.