I have a really good question for all of my fellow Kossacks, but first I should let you know who I am. I have been a Kossack for almost 4 years, a Navy Vet and I am a full time college student. I am a 40 year old with a 10 year old son. I don’t really post too many diaries, but I do frequent the Pootie diaries because they are the diaries that help me keep me sane in this insane world that we live in. My little man and I currently live in a small town in Idaho and I have just recently lost my job. My question to my fellow Kossacks is: Now what do I do?
The current unemployment rate in Idaho is 7.1 %, according to the Idaho Department of Labor. Sure that isn’t much in comparison to all the rest of the nation, but mind you, the population of my small town is 143,412. That’s not very big is it? According to the Idaho Department of Labor,
"The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose three-tenths of a point to 7.1 percent, three full percentage points higher than a year earlier. Another 2,100 workers swelled the ranks of the jobless to a record 53,000. Unemployment benefits payments approached $60 million in March, intensifying the pressure on the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund."
Sure I have filed for unemployment, but there is a good chance that my ex-employer will fight it, they are evil that way. Let me go into a little bit of a history about the job I had for almost 10 months. I always showed up on time, I would NEVER call in sick, and I would always work the shifts that no one would want to or they called in sick themselves. A week and a half before I had lost my job, I had completely lost my voice.
Even though I couldn’t utter a word above a mere whisper, I still showed up to work. I made signs that would ask the appropriate questions that I usually ask throughout the night. Most people would just call in sick, but not me. Anyway, this is what happened. The very day that I had gotten my voice back, a week and a half later mind ya, I was running a fever, but I still worked like I always did.
I had a young man come up to my register and he wanted to buy a pack of smokes. Just like any other customer, I checked his ID. However, this time, I was progressively feeling worse as the day went by. I was running a fever, but I at least had my voice back. Here’s the kicker. I checked his ID, and I checked it with the usual tablet of dates for proper tobacco/alcohol sales, but for some reason I misread his ID. I ended up selling him the smokes and then few minutes later, a lady came up to me to tell me that she had some bad news for me. She informed me that I had sold tobacco to a minor and that I was getting a $100 dollar citation. Well, let me tell ya folks, I was extremely upset because I knew that since this was a State Sting, and I was going to lose my job over this inadvertent mistake.
I found out a few days later that I am fired and that most likely the business that I had worked for will most likely fight my unemployment because of the way I lost my job. They didn’t care that this was an isolated incident and that I was ill at the time of the incident. They just didn’t care. Two days later I ended up in the Emergency Room with a high fever, and I was to the point where I couldn’t breathe anymore. The doctors had to give me breathing treatments and super antibiotics. I had a really bad case of bronchitis and severe upper respiratory infection.
I didn’t find out that I lost my job until several days later when I was due to come in. I informed my manager that I ended up in the hospital, but they didn’t care. I still lost my job. I filed for unemployment and I was told that because of the way I had lost my job, I will most likely not get benefits. I need to remind you that I was one of their best employees but it didn’t matter to them. So I filed for unemployment anyway.
I have put in well over 200 applications/resumes and I have had only 4 interviews and I didn’t get those jobs. You know things are really bad that McDonalds isn’t even hiring!!!!!!! I am at my wits end! How in the world am I going to pay my bills??!! I even went to my county to seek rent assistance, but since I had lost my job the way I did, I am 100% disqualified. They didn’t care I was sick when the incident happened. I was able to get utility assistance but that isn’t going to help with rent. I may not get unemployment, no one is hiring, and my own county won’t even help. So now what?
Thankfully, since I am a student in college, I am eligible for a work-study job. Unfortunately, it is only for 20 hours a week at only $7.20 an hour and the job ends at the end of the semester...which is May 8th. That is so not enough to keep my head above water. So now what???
I am posting this diary because there are a lot of intelligent people in here and they always seem to have great ideas. Heck, they helped get Obama elected!! So what better place to ask my question? I am open for any suggestions. I have access to all sorts of employment sites, which I check on a daily basis, and I get daily emails from my Veterans’ Rep about jobs, but I have had no success. So now what????
What is a single mother to do? I have used up all my savings and my ex-husband is absolutely worthless. He hasn’t paid child support in a very long time, so I cannot count on him to help. My family lives over 2000 miles away and they wouldn’t help me even if I did ask them. So once again, I am in need of advice. What can I do to get out of this mess? I appreciate any advice given.
Thank you.