Frustrated Today. Faithful Tomorrow. I Refuse To Give Up.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome back to the Ask Velvet Podcast. From the porch to the couch, real talk, real life. Just telling it my way. Today has been one of those days. You know the kind of day I'm talking about. The kind where one thing happens, then another thing happens, and then something else gets piled on top of that. And eventually you're sitting there thinking, do I cry? Do I laugh? Do I scream? Or do I just go back to bed and start this whole damn day over tomorrow? That's where I am today. Because this morning started with a job interview I was really looking forward to. But that situation combined with everything I've been dealing with concerning unemployment, my food stamps, my Medicaid bills, and trying to get answers from people who apparently don't have any answers has me frustrated. And I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm not. But even in the middle of all this frustration, I'm holding on to something I've always believed. What's meant for you won't pass you by. And sometimes you have to remind yourself of that when everything around you seems to be going wrong. So let me start with this job interview. I work with a temp agency, and I want to make something clear. And y'all, I was really looking forward to this interview because when you're unemployed or depending on temporary assignments, an interview means more than sitting down and talking to somebody about a job. That interview represents possibility. It represents a paycheck. It represents stability. It represents maybe being able to breathe a little easier. Because here's something everybody who's ever been unemployed already knows. The bills don't stop because the paychecks stop. The electric bill doesn't care. The phone bill doesn't care. Transportation doesn't care. Groceries don't care. Life keeps going and somehow you still have to figure shit out. And yes, I was excited about this interview. I got myself together, and because my daughter and grandchildren are here with me, I had to find somewhere quiet in the house. And anybody with children or grandchildren knows finding a quiet place isn't necessarily that simple. But I found my spot. I'm ready. The employer wanted me to use a particular app for the interview. I go to download it. It won't download on my phone. Okay. I'm frustrated, but I'm not giving up. I go to my daughter, explain what's happening, and thankfully she lets me use her phone. I download the app, I get on, and I wait. And wait. And wait. Nobody comes on. Then I get disconnected. I try to get back in, can't get back in. Meanwhile, I'm contacting my representative at the temp agency because I want her to know that I'm there and I'm trying. I don't want anybody thinking I just didn't show up for this interview. So she comes up with another solution. Let's try Zoom. Fine. I get on Zoom and again I'm waiting and waiting and waiting. Nobody comes on. So my representative tells me she's going to contact the employer and see whether he's still available. And I'm sitting there thinking, what the hell is happening this morning? But I realized something. Part of the reason this interview situation hit me so hard is because it didn't happen by itself. It landed on top of everything else I'm already dealing with. Because I've also been trying to get answers about my food stamps and Medicaid. I was receiving food stamps because I needed them. And let me make this clear, I still need them. When it came time for recertification, I submitted the information that was requested from me. I sent everything in online. I did what I was supposed to do, and my food stamps were still cut off. So I've been calling trying to find out what's going on. And when I was working temporary assignments, I couldn't just take off whenever I wanted and go sit in an office trying to straighten everything out. Because when you're working temporary assignments, if you don't work, you don't get paid for that day. And when money is already tight, losing a day's pay matters. So I tried handling it over the phone. I called and I called again and I kept hearing the same word escalation. We'll send it to escalation. Okay, I call again. Escalation. Another call. Escalation. By the third or fourth time I'm thinking, how many times are we going to escalate something before somebody actually does something? And then came this latest phone call. I'm trying to find out what's going on with my food stamps and Medicaid, and the customer service agent I spoke with was very rude. And during this conversation, she tells me very clearly that she works for a third-party company. She does not work directly for the government agency. She tells me she doesn't really know what's going on with my case, and all she can do is send it to escalation. Again. Then she basically tells me that if I want to know what's really happening with my food stamps, I should go down to the office myself. And I'm sitting there thinking, wait a minute. That took me back. Because until that conversation, I didn't realize that when I was calling what I understood to be the customer service line for my food assistance and Medicaid, I could actually be speaking with someone employed by an outside company contracted to handle customer service. Now, I'm not saying that outside contractors can't provide government customer service. Government agencies do use contractors for different services. But as the person calling in, I didn't know that. And hearing it the way she said it didn't make me feel any better. Because now I've got questions. When I'm calling about something as personal as my food assistance or Medicaid, what exactly am I talking to? Or who? Let me rephrase that. Who exactly am I talking to? What company am I speaking with? What information can that company access? What information can that individual customer service representative see? How is my information protected? And what exactly can that person actually do to help me? Because if you're telling me that you don't work directly for the agency, you don't know what's happening with my case, and the only thing you can do is send another escalation, then what am I supposed to do with that? And I'll tell you something else. As a customer, I really didn't need that information delivered to me in a way that basically sounded like, look, I don't work for them. I don't know what's happening. Go down there my yourself. That does absolutely nothing to solve my problem. I called because I needed help. I called because I needed information. I called because I've already done what I was supposed to do. And regardless of whether the person answering that phone is a government employee or an employee of a contractor, customer service is still customer service. You can explain the limits of what you're able to do without being nasty to somebody. You can say, I'm sorry you're going through this. I don't have access to make that decision directly. But here's what I can do. That's got some service. You don't have to talk down to somebody. You don't have to make somebody who's already struggling feel like they're bothering you simply because they're trying to figure out what happened to benefits they depend on. And that's why I think the agency needs to take a serious look at the customer service experience people are receiving, including any companies contracted to represent that service. Because when somebody calls about food assistance or health coverage, you don't know what that person is dealing with. They could be unemployed, they could be trying to feed their family, they could be sitting there wondering where their next meal is coming from. They could need access to health care. They could already be stressed beyond belief. Compassion doesn't cost anything. Professionalism doesn't cost anything. And basic respect certainly doesn't cost anything. What really frustrated me is that after that entire conversation, I still didn't have an answer. And now I'm probably going to have to physically go down to the office and say, I submitted everything you asked for. Can somebody please tell me what's happening with my case? And maybe somebody listening understands what exactly I'm talking about. Maybe you're dealing with food assistance, maybe it's Medicaid, maybe it's unemployment, maybe it's housing assistant, maybe it's Social Security, maybe it's an insurance company. Maybe you've been transferred from person to person, department to department, and every time you call, somebody tells you will escalate it. And after a while, you're thinking, escalated to who? You know, I'm so tired of hearing that word escalate. Because I need somebody to actually handle it. And that's why this morning's interview situation hit me the way it did. Because I'm already carrying all of this. I'm looking for work, I'm trying to get my benefits straight. I'm trying to pay bills, I'm trying to keep things moving. I'm trying to build this podcast. I'm trying to stay positive. I'm trying to keep my faith. And then the interview I was excited about doesn't even happen. And sometimes it's not one big thing that gets you. Sometimes it's ten little things sitting on top of each other. And finally you say, I'm tired. And today, I'm tired. I'm frustrated. I don't know whether I want to cry or laugh. And I think I might just need to go back to bed and start over tomorrow. But here's the important part. Tomorrow I'm getting back up because I refuse to give up. I refuse to give up on finding a job. I refuse to give up because one interview didn't happen. I refuse to give up on getting answers about my food stamps and Medicaid. And I absolutely refuse to give up on the Ask Velvet podcast. I believe in what I'm building. I believe this podcast is going to grow. I believe there will come a time when this podcast begins bringing in the funds that allow me to improve it, invest in it, grow it, and help me take care of myself. I don't know exactly when, but I know one thing. If I quit now, I'll never find out. And somebody listening needs to hear that today. Being positive doesn't mean you're never allowed to be frustrated. Having faith doesn't mean you're never allowed to ask. Lord, what is going on? Being strong doesn't mean you can't cry. Sometimes strength is crying your eyes out, wiping your face, getting some sleep, waking up tomorrow and saying, Okay, let's try this shit again. So that's where I am today. An app that wouldn't download, an interview that never happened, a Zoom meeting where nobody showed up, food stamps, I'm still trying to get straightened out, questions about my Medicaid, three or four escalations, a rude customer service experience. The surprise of finding out I was speaking with an employee of a third party contractor rather than directly with the agency and bills that certainly haven't stopped arriving while I'm trying to figure all of this out. So yeah, it's been one of those damn days. But one bad day doesn't determine the rest of my life. One missed interview doesn't determine my future. One frustrating customer service call doesn't determine my future. One season of unemployment doesn't determine my future. And one struggle season does not become my entire story. Maybe that interview will be rescheduled. Maybe another employer will call. Maybe when I go down to the office, I'll finally get some answers. I don't know what's going to happen next, but I'm going to keep, but I'm going to be here to find out. Because what's meant for me won't pass me by. And what's meant for you won't pass you by either. So if you're listening and you're dealing with your own mess right now, give yourself permission to have a bad day. Cry, laugh, be mad, take a nap, go back to bed if you need to. Just don't stay down. Tomorrow is another opportunity to get up and try again. And if this episode made you feel seen, encouraged you, made you laugh, or simply reminded you that somebody else understands what it's like to be frustrated and still keep going, please follow, subscribe, share, rate, and review the Ask Velvet podcast. And especially share this episode because somewhere there's somebody looking for work, somebody fighting to get their benefits straight, somebody wondering how they're going to pay their bills. Somebody who's tired of hearing the word escalation, escalation. Somebody who's trying to hold on to their faith while quietly thinking I don't know how much more of this I can take. Maybe this episode reaches that person. Maybe hearing somebody else say, I'm frustrated too, but I'm still going gives them enough encouragement to try again tomorrow. Today might have kicked my ass a little bit, but today didn't defeat me. I'm still looking for work, I'm still asking questions, I'm still advocating for myself. I'm still recording, I'm still building, I'm still believing, and most importantly, I still refuse to give up. This is Velvet with the Ask Velvet podcast from the porch to the couch, real talk, real life. Just telling it my way. And if today has been one of those days for you to get some rest, tomorrow we get back up and try this shit again. Because what's meant for you won't patch you by