Bend Over

Here's a thought: If you don't like people, you shouldn't work in positions that require talking, answering questions, or providing information.

Today I went to the unemployment office. While not the catastrophic abyss of irritation I expected, it was not fun. Most questions about the paperwork were answered with some version of "I don't know because that's not my job." Lovely. It's even sweeter when "I can't help you and I really don't want to" comes from the HR people of the employer who just scraped you off their shoe. They can't seem to figure out why I am asking questions and spiral down into, "Well what do you want? I already told you blah blah blah"; so, just in case you were not sufficiently disrespected and humbled, here's some more aggravation.

And then I went to Wal-mart and some old dude was checking me out! What a life!

*Post Script: Okay, let me give a little context to this post. I've been struggling with my former institution because I can't seem to get straight answers or assurance about how certain money issues will be handled. There is alleged "calculating" going on and people "taking care" of things. But, really. After being treated like an annoying gnat who happened to be doing the work that is the actual purpose of the institution--teaching students--, shouldn't I be doing a little bit of CYA for myself? Not to mention the fact that I was already denied some benefits via a "glitch" that nobody can explain. But the answer to every question is "I don't know. I can't give it to you in writing. You have to direct that to someone else. It's being addressed." And finally, "What else do you want?" The general message seems to be that I should just take whatever people feel like giving me, slink away quietly, and above all, stop talking to people who don't want their human resource type work interrupted by human beings. So, I'm feeling a little disregarded. Okay, tremendously disregarded. Mostly, I keep thinking, "Why are any of you upset? Don't you still have a job, after all?"