All Day on The Phone

Today I spent almost the whole working day on the phone with Texas Workforce Comission. Boy am I tired after a hard day on the dole--for real. It started at 10 am when I realized that I couldn't request my first payment online because I didn't know my PIN number. I hadn't been asked to specify a PIN but somehow I had one and damned if I knew what it was. I tried to find some way to reset it online, as is often so easy to do these days. Not so fast you unemployed person!!--it's only possible to reset over the phone with a real, live operator. So I thought 'no big deal I have all day', right? Not right actually, but whatever I want my PIN and then I'll figure out my lack of health insurance.

So, I call the number. It goes straight to an automated voice that says due to high call volume they cannot receive my call at this time please hang up or try again later. Whoa...Surely I should have been given the opportunity to wait on hold until my ear went numb if that was what I wanted, right? Surely they aren't just saying 'Sorry!'?

But actually they were saying that. I called back 21 times in a row without getting the privilege to wait on hold. At 1 pm I relocated myself to a coffee shop for a change of scenery...15 times, 20 times--no dice. Once and a while I got a busy signal instead of the auto-man, but mostly I got the auto-man voice.

51 times...New auto-man! I made it through to the first of a series of 5 or 6 menus that led me to a wait of 22 minutes and then (drum roll): a live person. I have to say she was really nice; however, the steps she gave me to reset my PIN, to my devestation, did not work--AAAAhhhhh. 3 pm...13 times...21 times...22 times. 4:00-4:30 pm PIN is finally reset, but I've got an appointment at 6:00 and I need to get ready so there's no time for requesting payment today. It'll just have to wait another day. Oh well for me. I wondered if I could get a part time job working at their call center.

Did I mention coffee shops are full of people? They really are. You've gotta be on your game and stake out seating as soon as you get there so you don't get stuck with a coffee and no seat--it's crazy. In several separate conversations I overheard people talking about how they were unemployed. One girl had a piece of paper taped to her computer that said she was an unemployed MBA. I admit it's somewhat comforting that some of these other coffee drinkers are in the same boat.

Have you ever played the game apples to apples? It's really fun. We played on Saturday at dolce vita, which I've fallen in love with all over again. I could have sat there all night.