Pride - and the swallowing thereof

Like just about anybody I know, I don't fit in a single pigeon hole. There are too many disparate traits/qualities about me to make that even feasible.

A few of my better traits/qualities are that I'm loyal, dependable, reliable, reasonably intelligent & fairly quick on the uptake, friendly, hard working, have a sense of humor, honest - the list goes on.

Some of my lesser qualities include stubbornness, gluttony, impatience with stupidity in general, a disinclination to shave regularly, being a micro manager, a tongue that could cut glass, and I'll never be a diplomat - and again, the list goes on.

I make no bones about my current situation. I've not had a steady paycheck in very nearly five full months. My savings are gone and I've had to resort to pawning my mother's silver and other things to come up with the necessary cash to pay bills & buy food. And that's over & above the $0.60/pound I get for freshly harvested aluminum...

Last week I put in my application for Food Stamps at DHS. An interesting experience and one I was not in a hurry to enjoy. Unfortunately, when the cupboard gets close to bare wood, with no hope of replenishment, one does what one must to get by. Requesting assistance from DHS was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Pride, is why...

I've held a job of one kind or another for more than 30 years. They weren't all great jobs, but I managed to pay the bills & keep myself fed. Sadly, after almost five months of being unemployed, the "keeping myself fed" part became a bit too much for me to manage on the proceeds of my harvesting alone.

So I made the trip to DHS last Wednesday. I didn't know what time they opened in the morning, so I left the house at 7:00 am for the 18 mile drive into the Skokie branch office. I got there 30 minutes early, but already there was a line at the front door. I joined it.

Almost three hours later I'd worked my way to the counter, obtained an application, filled it in, turned it in and learned I'd have to come back a week later for an interview that would determine my eligibility for Food Stamps. Had I not requested emergency assistance, my interview would have been set for sometime in September...

Today I went back in for my interview. It was set for 9:15 this morning, so true to form, I arrived at DHS shortly after 8:00 AM, just as they were opening the doors. I gathered my documents & scurried inside and joined the queue at the counter.

By 9:00 I was told to have a seat, my case worker would call me when she was ready. Miss Mond called me into her office at 9:40. We spent 30 minutes or so going over my documents & application before she had me sign some additional paperwork. Then she escorted me to the area where the LINK cards are prepared for issuance to the recipients.

She told me that when my name was called I should bring my ID in and be prepared to enter a four digit pin into their machine. My LINK card would then be handed to me and in two days, loaded up with my Food Stamp allotment - pro rated for the shortened month, of course.

Unfortunately, the State's computer system went down and I wound up sitting there waiting an additional 90 minutes, hoping they'd get it back on line soon. I was rewarded in that they were able to issue me a LINK card at the end of that 90 minutes, but I'd have to acivate it with a pin number over the phone with the Springfield office. The full system was not yet operable...

As many of you know, my land line has been shut off for non-payment. (There's a surprise, huh?) That being the case, I made a beeline for the nearest payphone I could find to register/activate my LINK card. I dialed in the toll-free number they gave me at DHS only to hear a computerized recording tell me: We're sorry, the toll-free number you have dialed is inaccessible to all pay telephones. Please try again from a non-pay telephone. I hung up, chanting odd fricatives under my voice as the recording began to repeat.

Now I have to find a non-pay telephone so I can get this LINK card activated. I'd use my cell phone, but I'm almost positive that toll-free number will connect me to a computerized phone answering system that's just dying to eat up the few minutes I have left on my cell phone....

Welcome to The Aluminum Harvest, where nothing is ever quite as simple as it should be...