In A State of...Blah

Yesterday was probably the most boring day ever for me.  I didn't get online, I didn't read any blogs, I didn't write any blogs, and I didn't get on Facebook.  I spent four hours trying to call Arizona's DES (Department of Economic Services) because my caseworker never returned any of my (five) messages.  I'll have to agree with Stephanie on this one- maybe we shouldn't allow the government take care of our health insurance.

I get my coverage through the state, because I make almost minimum wage and work less than 15 hours a week.  I rarely have anything bad to say about DES because I don't have to deal with them but once every three months.  However, this time I am very, very disappointed in their work.  My caseworker called me a week and a half ago, left a message, and I called back, literally, one minute later because my phone never rang.  I left two messages that day.  She didn't call back.  I called the next day, and she didn't call back.  Yesterday, I had to call the FAA Communications Center to report this because otherwise, I'll lose my benefits, which means I won't have any medication (for asthma, kidneys, or bipolar disorder) and we also won't be eating. 

The first thing I did when I woke up was try to contact DES.  The phone just kept ringing, and ringing, and ringing.  I called the FAA number after about fifty tries to DES, and told them my situation.  The lady then said I was calling the wrong number and gave me a new number, told me she was going to email my caseworker and let her know the situation, and that I should keep trying to get a hold of her.  She gave me the wrong offices number.  I technically live in Phoenix- that's the area code I'm in.  However, if I cross the street, I'm in Glendale, and the nearest office is just a couple miles up the road, so they directed my case there.  Instead of looking to see which office I've been appointed to, she gave me the number for the office that is for my area code, usually, which is pretty far away.  I was really mad at this point, because if she said she was emailing the office that handles my case, and it is directed to my caseworker, chances are, this email is going to never get to my caseworker because she ISN'T AT THAT OFFICE.

All day long I tried both numbers.  I used 300 minutes of my plan, leaving me 400 for the rest of the month.  I'm not really happy.  I set my alarm to wake me up early, and I called first thing this morning.  The office number was still just ringing, and ringing, and ringing...it doesn't even give me to option to leave a message for any extensions!  I was so mad.  I finally got through at around noon today, left a message, and it's been two hours.  I know these people are busy, but there is no reason not to answer the office phone.  All the illegals in the office can wait to be helped while you help a citizen that actually pays taxes, thank you.

(Okay, while writing this I called again.  It rang ten times, someone answered the phone, and they put me on hold.  NICE!)

I'm just really frustrated because they ask you to give all of this information before the 12th of the month, and if you don't, you basically lose everything and have to start over.  I can't afford for this to happen.  The only thing I have to mail in are paycheck stubs, but when I transfered stores, they never completed all of the paperwork (how responsible) so my paycheck stubs are lost somewhere.  At work I've kept on my manager's case about finding them because I need them, and she finally located them, but they won't be here til Friday.  Which means, by the time I mail them, and DES receives them, my case will probably be closed, and I'll have to apply all over again, and the process can take up to 45 days.  I just can't wait that long.

What really bugs me about this is that most of the people that work in these offices, do not have educations after high school.  I mean, the caseworkers usually go to school to do so, but the people answering phones and running the counter?  No.  They don't.  So why can't they hire a few more people to man the phones while a few others run the counter and take ticket numbers from the illegals?  This baffles me.  I would gladly sit there and answer phones as a job.  I need a full time job.  That's the whole reason I'm even getting help from them in the first place.

I've only been to the offices twice.  The first office I was at was awful.  I had to be there at 7 for an appointment, and the office doesn't open until, 7.  My stepmom dropped me off that time, and when we pulled up to this office, there was already a line wrapped around the building (all of them, Mexican), and there were thirty kids running around screaming.  Once inside it was worse.  I couldn't believe it.  I tried to be patient, read my book, and understand that this is what DES does, but I sat there for two hours, while all of these people that spoke NO English were helped first because, well, THEY DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH.

The office I deal with now isn't much difference, except they have an area to wait in if you have kids.  So, the adults without kids can wait in peace and quiet, while the parents with kids get to wait in a loud smelly room.  I enjoyed that part.  They moved quickly, too.  If you were just dropping off information, you stood in line, gave them your paperwork, and that is it.  The only problem is, NO ONE IS EVER AT THE COUNTER TO ANSWER THE PHONE.  Are the people that call not as important because they aren't up there waiting?  No, we are people that have lives and actually do have work and things to do, they just have a quick question but it will NEVER get answered because no one knows how to use a phone around there.  Sheesh.

Anyhow, it's just a wreck.  The government is a wreck.  Over 25 MILLION dollars was given to illegals in food stamps and cash assistance last year in Arizona, and we are now in a serious deficit.  They decreased the amount of services for EVERYONE because of this, so those of us who pay taxes to get this help when we need it no longer get as much.  I'm not a political person, but when it deal with this sort of thing, I will easily argue and bitch and moan about it.

I'm spending the rest of my day doing the same thing as yesterday.  I'm not excited.  On top of that, the Blackberry I gave Chris in December is acting up, and not letting him use the menu or answer text messages.  I called to see how much it would be to replace it, since we have insurance, and it's 90 bucks.  I won't complain about the cost because it's better than paying full price, but we just don't have that kind of money right now.  Which means if his phones dies, he won't have a phone.  And I'm not comfortable with that right now.  I don't keep constant tabs on him, but it is nice to text him a question and have him answer, or he'll let me know if he's going to be late. 

My blogs are getting increasingly longer and I apologize for that.  So much going on in my head though!  AHHHH!  Anyway, I'll attempt to read and comment as much as I can today, but don't hold it against me if I don't get to you.  I don't expect you to read all this either, lol. 

Have a good day, readers!