'Plaint of the Playwright

'Plaint of the Playwright

[ Thursday, April 01, 2004 ]

So, Unemployment told me to go fuck myself.

April Fools.

Okay, actually, my interview with the woman from Unemployment went pretty well, I thought.

For those of you who haven't been there, what happens is that after you file your unemployment claim, they set up a time to call you and basically compare your story with your previous employer.

She asked me why they fired me, and I told her what I've told you--that a customer complained to the VP of the bank, saying that she couldn't believe I was still working there, and wanted to know why I hadn't been fired yet. This is, pretty much verbatim, what's in the letter of discharge they gave me.

A lot of this conversation, I figured, was to determine how different what I had to say was different from my last employer. (She started off by saying that she had gotten a statement from them as well, and my evaluation would be based on both our sides--which, I have to add, is a better chance than I was given by my former employers.)

I didn't lie--and if I had, I would have easily been caught, since she had their statement right there.

Her next question was about whether or not I had been warned on this issue previously. I said, yeah, last year they gave me a write-up.

"Would that be in April, '03?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Yup, I was right--she knew the answer already, and just wanted to see if I'd answer honestly. That's actually pretty logical; I imagine that they get a lot of people who want to pull a Trainspotting and live off of Unemployment.

"Did you feel you did the job to the best of your abilities."

"I believe so."

"Can you tell me why?"

"Well, the VP did give me a raise for having an good attitude and work ethic."

"And that was when?"

"Last month. That's why my dismissal was such a surprise. I figured since they gave me a raise for having a good attitude, I should just keep doing what I was doing."

"It sounds like you just upset the wrong customer."

"I guess so. Although the paperwork they gave me didn't really say that I'd done anything recently--just that this customer was upset I was still working there. It could have been just a repeat of the earlier complaint."

"Probably."

"The funny thing about the April '03 complaint, is that same week a customer called my manager to tell them I was a really great employee. That kind of tells me I was doing a good job. I mean, almost nobody calls in to compliment you. Usually, when people call, it's to complain."

"Oh, yeah, tell me about it."

I felt a lot more at ease when she said that--I felt like I was dealing with a human being.

"Sadly," I said, "the person who called with the compliment called my manager, and the person who called to complain called the vice president."

"Yeah, like I said, it sounds like you just upset the wrong customer."

"Sadly."

She told me that she'd be submitting the report, and the evaluation will be coming in a few days, and in the meantime, I should just go on filing my weekly claims and looking for work.

I thanked her for her time, and so far, that's where we all are.

Breathe in, breathe out.



posted by Rob on 1:38 AM | link

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