My biggest pet peeve is clients who don't read their notices. Some don't read at all others just turn in whatever they want anyway. For example, we send a notice that asks for all medical bills from 4/1/08-6/30/08. What we end up getting is every piece of paper of the hospital or doctor gave them. The info sheet about taking care of a sprain, the survey about how you felt about the service the nurse provided, the paper that explains your rights as a patient. Why? Because they can't be bothered to stop and think about what we're asking them.
My next favorite is when we ask for proof that so and so no longer works for or receives income from such and such place. People always turn in their last pay stub. Now I admit that there are a few places who print "final check" on the last check but 99% of the time I am given a check stub which proves only that they were paid on whatever date, whatever amount. Then when we deny them they get upset when we point out that the check stub only proves they were paid. They just can't be bothered to DO anything that requires any effort on their part.
"But they didn't give me a letter of termination"
"You'll need to contact them and ask for one"
"They won't do that"
"Why not?"
"......"
"Without proof of last day worked and paid you cannot receive benefits"
*loud sigh* "OK, alright, whatever"
Why don't they want to go back and ask for a letter? Because at least 95% just up and left without a word to anyone. I can't tell you how many times an employer has told me the client never came back from lunch, called out sick until the office called and told them not to come back or they pitched a fit and yelled and screamed at everyone then left in a huff. One 'woman' even went back to her office after telling everyone what they could do to themselves and egged the building till they called the police.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Ah yes...
I worked an application today for a married couple, no children. They make about $5,000 per month and are asking for medical assistance. They have one medical bill which totals $1200. I called them to inquire about more bills and got a voice mail message saying they are in the Bahamas for the next 3 weeks. The hospital will also reduce the charge for lack of insurance so they will only pay around 27% of that $1200.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
And I care why?
Our clients like to panic. They watch the news and believe everything they're told but they were only kinda listening in the first place and then they talk among themselves and hear more half baked ideas. Lately the economy is the biggest news source for them. Now I agree that things are getting bad. We are seeing a WHOLE lot more clients including more people who have never been on assistance and were making pretty good money. Stylists, designers, golf pros, mechanics, and tons of construction workers and specialty construction workers.
The problem is they respond to panic and by calling me and demanding I help them. I am not a social worker. I do not empathize with you. I do not sit around worrying about you. I do cases to get them the hell off my desk. I will try to refer you to people who can help you and will hold your hand and cry with you but when I do 99% get mad and tell me how food boxes are filled with gross food and they aren't THAT desperate for help to go to such and such a place. And of course when I don't jump fast enough then I'm a bitch. If I deny the case because you aren't eligible I'm a bitch. If I can't drop everything and do your case right now because your kid has an ear infection I'm a bitch.
Now how is that helping you to get your case done? Do you really think I'm going to get all fired up to get your case done now? Do you really believe my supervisor is going to do anything at all to speed your case up? I will gladly transfer you over to her voice mail and she call you back in a few days to tell you the same thing I just did. Or you can tell her how I don't care and when she comes to chat about the case we will call you a bitch and laugh at you. Regardless, the outcome is the same: your case is moved to the very last day to be completed. Honestly, the whole office works like that. Piss us off enough and your case will be done on the due date and not a day earlier.
Now you may read that and think I'm harsh for not caring. Here's the thing though, when someone comes in for help, let's say in July, we ask them when they last worked. They answer February. OK how did you pay rent in March? Savings. OK, and how did you pay rent in April? My mom paid it for me. And May? My mom. And June? My mom. And July? My mom. OK and how will you pay rent in August, September, and October? Gosh I don't know. I guess I'll still ask my mom to help. I hope I find a job.
At the end of the interview I will ask the client to bring back the last 30 days of activity on her bank account. Without fail I will have a bank account statement showing debits for things like AMC Theaters, fast food places everyday at lunchtime, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Fry's all for over $100. You knew you were in trouble. You had your mom paying your bills. Yet, you still find time and money to shop, shop, shop!
Its even worse when we get a brand new client who was making really good money. They come in and we see they've been making $50,000 a year for last few years but have lost their job. You feel for them right up until you find that they have 2 mortages, 2 leased cars, and no savings. Where did they money go? Oh, to the $50,000 Visa bill. Sorry, we don't count credit card debt.
I'd like to say the senarios above are rare but they aren't. We get several people every day just like them. Why is it someone else's job to save them? Why am I suppose to care when they're over the income limit but are stressed because they have ARM of $2500/month? We all make choices in life and we all have to live with the consquences of those choices.
The problem is they respond to panic and by calling me and demanding I help them. I am not a social worker. I do not empathize with you. I do not sit around worrying about you. I do cases to get them the hell off my desk. I will try to refer you to people who can help you and will hold your hand and cry with you but when I do 99% get mad and tell me how food boxes are filled with gross food and they aren't THAT desperate for help to go to such and such a place. And of course when I don't jump fast enough then I'm a bitch. If I deny the case because you aren't eligible I'm a bitch. If I can't drop everything and do your case right now because your kid has an ear infection I'm a bitch.
Now how is that helping you to get your case done? Do you really think I'm going to get all fired up to get your case done now? Do you really believe my supervisor is going to do anything at all to speed your case up? I will gladly transfer you over to her voice mail and she call you back in a few days to tell you the same thing I just did. Or you can tell her how I don't care and when she comes to chat about the case we will call you a bitch and laugh at you. Regardless, the outcome is the same: your case is moved to the very last day to be completed. Honestly, the whole office works like that. Piss us off enough and your case will be done on the due date and not a day earlier.
Now you may read that and think I'm harsh for not caring. Here's the thing though, when someone comes in for help, let's say in July, we ask them when they last worked. They answer February. OK how did you pay rent in March? Savings. OK, and how did you pay rent in April? My mom paid it for me. And May? My mom. And June? My mom. And July? My mom. OK and how will you pay rent in August, September, and October? Gosh I don't know. I guess I'll still ask my mom to help. I hope I find a job.
At the end of the interview I will ask the client to bring back the last 30 days of activity on her bank account. Without fail I will have a bank account statement showing debits for things like AMC Theaters, fast food places everyday at lunchtime, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Fry's all for over $100. You knew you were in trouble. You had your mom paying your bills. Yet, you still find time and money to shop, shop, shop!
Its even worse when we get a brand new client who was making really good money. They come in and we see they've been making $50,000 a year for last few years but have lost their job. You feel for them right up until you find that they have 2 mortages, 2 leased cars, and no savings. Where did they money go? Oh, to the $50,000 Visa bill. Sorry, we don't count credit card debt.
I'd like to say the senarios above are rare but they aren't. We get several people every day just like them. Why is it someone else's job to save them? Why am I suppose to care when they're over the income limit but are stressed because they have ARM of $2500/month? We all make choices in life and we all have to live with the consquences of those choices.
My what a long nose you have
I got an application back in April which was completed by the applicant and stated her husband is self employed and she is pregnant. Now under the new medical only app process I don't speak to her I only send a notice asking for more info or proof of what she has reported. I got back a note written on one of those cutesy kitchen note pads saying " I don't why you are asking for self employment or proof of pregnancy; I'm not pregnant and my husband works" I denied her because she didn't provide what I asked for.
In June she turned in a copy of the same app she has already given us with the same answers as before. Again I asked for proof of self employment and proof of pregnancy and EDD(estimated date of delivery). This time she didn't turn anything in. I denied again. August rolls around and I see yet again the same damn app on my desk! I call the home number, it goes to voice mail. I call the "work" number, it doesn't work. I finally call the guy who has been writing some very questionable statements for them. Who is he? The accountant for the business the husband runs! That would be self employment folks. He gives me this big song and dance about how the business is closing. I finally get the husband on the phone and start asking questions. I want to know how he has been paying his bills if he no money coming in. I mean there are employees to be paid, rent and electric, and ingredients for the smoothies; he has to be paying all this somehow.
He tells me he has no money and everything is overdue. His statement is that he hasn't paid any bills or employees because there is no money coming in and hasn't been since about 4/08. No biggie but I need to know how he plans on settling over due wages and bills when the business goes under. His next statement is that all his wages are up to date and he will sell the business goods to pay back all bills. Wait a minute, how are your employee wages up to date if you have no money. Well every night he just counts out cash from the register and pays them. Where did the money in the register come from? From people buying smoothies. So there was money coming in? Only when people bought smoothies.
If I ask you ten thousand times if ANY money in any way was coming in and you continually say no then turn around and tell me there is money in the cash register from people buying smoothies you are now a liar. We do not like liars. Had he just been honest in the beginning and told me he had a little money coming in but now enough to support himself or the business everything would have been fine but no, as most of my clients do, he says there is absolutely no money anywhere and they are about to starve on the streets.
The funniest thing is, most people lie about the things we don't care about and/or things that would make them qualify for more benefits. Honestly, we know you're lying and we're laughing at you. If you are so hard up that you need to lie about who you are, I pity you.
The most amusing part is catching them in the lie. A co-worker had a case where the mom just had no info whatsoever on her babies' daddy. Oh no, I don't where he is. Oh no, he doesn't pay me any child support. Oh no, I have no clue about where he is at all. Well about 4 days later guess who she interviews? That's right babies' daddy. On the back page of the application he listed her name and number as a contact person and labeled her "children's mother". Wow,what a shock!
The absolute best thing is when the client themselves exposes the lie. For instance, we ask them to bring a letter from their previous employer saying they no longer work there and are not paid but they turn in a letter saying they still work there and get paid X amount. Then when we work the case with income they call and pitch a fit because they keep saying they have no income. Or they turn in a letter from a neighbor listing the kid's father as living in the home when at the interview they swore up and down they had no clue where he was.
In June she turned in a copy of the same app she has already given us with the same answers as before. Again I asked for proof of self employment and proof of pregnancy and EDD(estimated date of delivery). This time she didn't turn anything in. I denied again. August rolls around and I see yet again the same damn app on my desk! I call the home number, it goes to voice mail. I call the "work" number, it doesn't work. I finally call the guy who has been writing some very questionable statements for them. Who is he? The accountant for the business the husband runs! That would be self employment folks. He gives me this big song and dance about how the business is closing. I finally get the husband on the phone and start asking questions. I want to know how he has been paying his bills if he no money coming in. I mean there are employees to be paid, rent and electric, and ingredients for the smoothies; he has to be paying all this somehow.
He tells me he has no money and everything is overdue. His statement is that he hasn't paid any bills or employees because there is no money coming in and hasn't been since about 4/08. No biggie but I need to know how he plans on settling over due wages and bills when the business goes under. His next statement is that all his wages are up to date and he will sell the business goods to pay back all bills. Wait a minute, how are your employee wages up to date if you have no money. Well every night he just counts out cash from the register and pays them. Where did the money in the register come from? From people buying smoothies. So there was money coming in? Only when people bought smoothies.
If I ask you ten thousand times if ANY money in any way was coming in and you continually say no then turn around and tell me there is money in the cash register from people buying smoothies you are now a liar. We do not like liars. Had he just been honest in the beginning and told me he had a little money coming in but now enough to support himself or the business everything would have been fine but no, as most of my clients do, he says there is absolutely no money anywhere and they are about to starve on the streets.
The funniest thing is, most people lie about the things we don't care about and/or things that would make them qualify for more benefits. Honestly, we know you're lying and we're laughing at you. If you are so hard up that you need to lie about who you are, I pity you.
The most amusing part is catching them in the lie. A co-worker had a case where the mom just had no info whatsoever on her babies' daddy. Oh no, I don't where he is. Oh no, he doesn't pay me any child support. Oh no, I have no clue about where he is at all. Well about 4 days later guess who she interviews? That's right babies' daddy. On the back page of the application he listed her name and number as a contact person and labeled her "children's mother". Wow,what a shock!
The absolute best thing is when the client themselves exposes the lie. For instance, we ask them to bring a letter from their previous employer saying they no longer work there and are not paid but they turn in a letter saying they still work there and get paid X amount. Then when we work the case with income they call and pitch a fit because they keep saying they have no income. Or they turn in a letter from a neighbor listing the kid's father as living in the home when at the interview they swore up and down they had no clue where he was.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Stupid not fried
So I took this nice cushy cubicle job for the hours, M-F 8-5 no nights, holidays, weekends, but I never guessed the biggest reward would be that absolute morons who are my clients. I work for the state of AZ "helping" people apply for food stamps, state medical aid, and cash assistance. I had a rough idea of what working with the public at large entails having worked food service and retail but until I joined the cubicle farm that is government bureaucracy I had no clue the level of stupidity a person can reach.
Friends often forward me emails along the lines of having a job entails drug testing but welfare doesn't and how unfair that is. The truth is that druggies are pretty much incapable of jumping through all the hoops we require and so are denied. The real people living off the system are those who can lie, get pregnant, and whine. The girl who in high school was always creating drama, in somebody else's business, and dressed like a hooker is the same person I will find in my cube with no income, five kids with different "daddies", and no plan for the future. She will either be living with some really nice guy who isn't a father to any kid and doesn't give her any money or help; he just lets her stay in one room rent free. Besides he's a truck driver/mechanic/ night stocker and never home anyway. Or she'll live with her sister/cousin/mother and 400 assorted children. Regardless the plan is to "raise" her dirty, rude, fat brats and never worry about someday supporting herself because she has all the help she needs with food stamps, cash, and medical.
Yes, we do have clients who come in for help during a rough spot and then six months later have found a job and moved on but in all honesty not only are they less than 5% of the clients they are also boring to write write about. Its much more amusing to share with you the people that outrage, amuse, and irritate me daily. I look forward to sharing the real life applications, phone calls, client letters, and best of all, the complaints with you.
Friends often forward me emails along the lines of having a job entails drug testing but welfare doesn't and how unfair that is. The truth is that druggies are pretty much incapable of jumping through all the hoops we require and so are denied. The real people living off the system are those who can lie, get pregnant, and whine. The girl who in high school was always creating drama, in somebody else's business, and dressed like a hooker is the same person I will find in my cube with no income, five kids with different "daddies", and no plan for the future. She will either be living with some really nice guy who isn't a father to any kid and doesn't give her any money or help; he just lets her stay in one room rent free. Besides he's a truck driver/mechanic/ night stocker and never home anyway. Or she'll live with her sister/cousin/mother and 400 assorted children. Regardless the plan is to "raise" her dirty, rude, fat brats and never worry about someday supporting herself because she has all the help she needs with food stamps, cash, and medical.
Yes, we do have clients who come in for help during a rough spot and then six months later have found a job and moved on but in all honesty not only are they less than 5% of the clients they are also boring to write write about. Its much more amusing to share with you the people that outrage, amuse, and irritate me daily. I look forward to sharing the real life applications, phone calls, client letters, and best of all, the complaints with you.
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