Tom Corbett: Bozo or John Wayne Gacy? You decide..
To borrow a phrase from my girl DatGirl.. this FREAKIN’ BOBBLE HEAD Tom Corbett, a republican politician from Pennsylvania went on record and said that :: I’ll paraphrase here :: that the unemployed people in Pennsylvania are lazy and don’t want to work.. we’re just sitting on our asses waiting until unemployment runs out before we go looking for a job.
Yea.. you read that right.
Actually, I’m going to rethink this. He’s NOT a Bobble Head.. he’s a fucking douche bag!
I am one of those Pennsylvania’s that are out of a job.. and believe me.. I am NOT sitting on my ass waiting for unemployment benefits to run out.. I, like many other people I know, are trying to find a job that isn’t going to leave me and my family living in a box in the park.
So here’s a snap shot into my life:
Because my salary was what it was in with “working world”, my unemployment rate was at the max rate. Which, if you do the math, is less then half of what I was making monthly.
Ok. Fine.
So I did what every financially responsible person does in these situations and scaled back on everything that wasn’t a necessity. Got rid of all the extra stuff on cable.. did away with the home phone.. lowered all the perks on the cell phone.. dropped the insurance on the broken down van that we don’t drive.. and we don’t drive the other car as much if we don’t absolutely need to. Basically, I made it work.
Barely.
We’re even busting our asses trying to find another house to rent because this one is sapping way more then half my monthly income. But the problem is, because I’m on unemployment and the store hasn’t been open long enough to trend it’s profits.. no one is willing to take a risk and rent to us. Understandable. I don’t hold it against potential landlords.. they have to look out and provide for theirs too.. it’s just the way it is.
I’ve been combing the paper and the internet.. sending out my resumes.. joining the likes of Monster.Com .. the same thing that everybody else is doing and either I don’t get a call back.. or I’m “over qualified” :: read that as them not wanting to pay me what I’m worth :: .. or I just simply silence.
My own mother.. God Bless her simple ass soul .. has been needling me about this since I got laid off. She doesn’t think you “work” unless you “work” for someone else.. she doesn’t consider my store a “job” .. it doesn’t matter to her that I would have to PAY someone to do what I do daily if I wasn’t there to do it daily .. her thinking capacity only goes so far.
So the other day when she called me to tell me that her cousin works in a kid’s clothing store and would GLADLY hire me, I asked her what the salary was.
Her response? “.. what does it matter. It’s a job.”
I calmly .. yes, calmly .. explained to her that while I could make up a few hundred dollars a month from the store, I can’t cut my nose off to spite my face, yknow? I mean.. a 7.00 an hour job just isn’t going to cut it financially.
And she WENT OFF.. omg.. did she GO OFF..
And yknow.. like.. there are certain ways that I don’t talk to my mom. Even when she’s being a complete fool, I show her a respect that mother’s deserve.. but she crossed the line and I had to set her straight..
I’M 45 YEARS OLD.. DON’T LIVE UNDER YOUR ROOF.. AND DON’T HIT YOU UP FOR MONEY SO IT’S REALLY NONE OF YOUR SIMPLE ASS BUSINESS WHAT I DO OR DON’T DO.
I wasn’t proud of myself but you know what? I’m just sick of hearing it and sick of her comparing me to my IRS big-wig brother that lives in a half million dollar house and is married to a research physician who travels the globe routinely testing new drugs that the FDA won’t allow here.
Sorry.. a little off topic but it just gets under my skin because Mr. Corbett here.. why, he never had to go through what I and millions of other people around the country are going through.
There ARE jobs, Bozo? Then were are they? Ohhhh… you’re talking about UNION jobs!! You’re talking about the jobs created by the stimulus that went to replace perfectly good corners already wheel chair friendly with NEW corners that have a rubber mat insert that cost 10g’s a pop.
You read that right… my county is destroying perfectly good pavement corners with NEW pavement corners that is costing TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS a corner.. that’s 40 GRAND an intersection. Considering all the intersections in my little borough alone, that’s a whole shit load of money that COULD have been used to .. oh.. I don’t know.. promote small businesses? Provide start up money for someone who wants to start a small business?? Cause, OMG!!, that would provide that dirty word called JOBS.
But they wouldn’t be UNION jobs so .. you know.. never mind that..
Sorry.. off topic again!!
What I wanted to say in this post is that last Wednesday when I should have received my second unemployment check of the month.. guess what?
Didn’t get it.
Didn’t get it the next day either..
And this is like stressing me out because my landlord had the other half of the rent that he was going to deposit on Wednesday :: his office manager was fucking horrible when I had to tell her not to deposit :: .. I already had a cut off notice from the water department scheduled for the day after I was suppose to get my check .. the cable bill was due.. my cell phone was about to be cut off and we won’t even talk about the electric / gas company.
So I’m in such a fucking panic that I was literally throwing up my belly button..
I call the unemployment office and talk to Mike.
Mike explains to me that the reason why they didn’t release my benefits is because it was a way to get me to call them to tell me that I didn’t qualify for another claim.
Cause you couldn’t send me a letter after my last check, RIGHT MIKE?
So I tell him that I’ve been working for 30 some odd years and NEVER had to deal with unemployment before and so I didn’t know WHAT THE HELL HE WAS TALKING ABOUT.
He tells me that because I didn’t work and therefore didn’t earn 6Xs what my unemployment benefits are, I was entitled to open a new claim.
ME: So.. basically what you’re saying is I’m screwed??
MIKE: No.. no.. no.. you can’t open a new claim but you qualify for emergency benefits.
ME: So, I’m getting a check?
MIKE: Well, yea. I’m going to release it now since we talked.
And I was so relieved to hear it that Ms. BadAss me started to get all weepy and teary.
Poor Mike kept apologizing all over himself and I was like, Dude.. it isn’t your fault and I went on to explain to him how I was being responsible in every way but it’s illegal to duct tape kids to trees and leave them in the park these days and if I were allowed to do that, then I wouldn’t have their burden of food and cloths, yknow?
And then I got really, really pissed off and told him that why is it that people who have worked all their fucking lives are finding themselves in this position yet able bodies people who have been collecting welfare for GENERATIONS never miss a check?
Why is THAT, Mike??
WHY IS THAT, TOM CORBETT?
So before you open your well fed.. bills paid.. grossly over paid mouth, why don’t you try living in our shoes for a while?
<< end of rant >>
LIVING ME 101 