……for hiring people who cannot read their own forms and will not listen to their own clients.
I went to the self-sufficiency office today to turn in my re-certifications for food benefits and health insurance benefits.
The form in question clearly stated that if you answered YES to part of question one (did you still live at the same address as you did 6 months ago when you were first certified) you should then skip to question two.
I do live at the same address I lived at 6 months ago, so I answered question one with a YES and skipped to question two as instructed.
When I get to the self-sufficiency office the young woman who looked at my forms said that I had to fill out ALL of question one.
I guess she doesn’t understand either spoken English–although she could speak it quite well herself– or written English as I pointed out at least twice that the form itself said that I did NOT need to fill out all of question one if I answered yes to the first part of question one.
She just kept insisting that I had to fill out ALL of question one no matter what the form said.
My first question –which I didn’t bother asking–was: given the fact that I am not a mind reader, how was I supposed to know to NOT trust the form and continue to fill out a question I’d been told wasn’t necessary?
I finally got fed up (having a battle of wits with an unarmed person is totally counterproductive and very frustrating to boot) and left the office.
When I returned to the office (having filled out the totally unnecessary remainder of question one) I didn’t talk to anyone. I simply stapled my forms together and dropped them in their drop box.
I figured if I made the mistake of letting someone look at the forms again they would start insisting on proof of income.
How do you prove a negative?
I have no income other than what I get from selling my belongings on Craigs List, Ebay, and to local secondhand/antique dealers. I have been told twice by this very office that was being stupid about the forms today that income from selling my belongings is not counted as income when applying for food and medical benefits.
I’m sure though if they looked at my forms again when I returned they would ignore the large NONE written next to each month for income and insist on proof of income.
Again, my sincere thanks to the State of Oregon for hiring individuals who cannot read their own forms and refuse to listen to their own clients. I would refer to these people as idiots, but that would truly be an insult to real idiots!