Third Temp Position

After the email debacle at the furniture showroom, I begged Jason to find me work.....*any* work. What I discovered about this specific temp agency was that once you had 1,000 hours, vacation and sick time began accruing for you. So....the temp agency wasn't too eager to find me work....there were newer people they could hire to whom they wouldn't have to pay benefits to.

Having figured out why Jason was no longer taking my calls, I began applying at the other temp agencies in town - Kelly and TempForce. TempForce was the first to call me back, so I went to interview with Lou, their top employment specialist. I laid it all on the line - the job that ended in April, the struggle to find work, and lastly, the email scandal at the previous temporary position. Lou told me she appreciated my honesty - it made her job soooo much easier. I immediately liked her - she didn't play games, act coy about open positions, or play favorites - I found her to be the one person who really told me "like it is" in the temporary job world.

Up to this point, I had survived largely on the overabundance of food I stored. I own a standalone freezer, which I used to store meat and frozen veggies that I had bought from Sam's Club. I would routinely buy large quantities of ground beef, turkey, cheeses, and lunchmeat, separate them neatly into smaller servings in freezer bags, then put them in my freezer. It was a habit that served me well in those lean days, a habit I acquired from my Depression-era grandmother. Her cabinets were always overflowing with canned food and her two freezers always had frozen meat, leftover meals, and the fixings for a feast. So I was able to make good meals from my pantry, going through and finally eating the stuff on the bottom of the freezer - the stuff that's so frozen, you wonder what in the heck it is! After a time, my income became so limited that I could no longer afford to restock my supply, so my pantry thinned greatly. 

Desperate, I went to a church food bank for help. Once there, I was asked to fill out forms stating that I needed the help, after which I was interviewed and once again asked as to why I needed the food. They gave me meals for 2 days and told that I'd have to wait a month to come back for more food. And do you know what food I got? A jar of peanut butter, 1 packet of oatmeal, 1 can of turkey, 1 can of corn, and 1 bottled water - I kid you not! That food was supposed to last me 2 whole days!!! If nothing else, this experience has taught me to be less judgmental of those in need - it is not as easy to scratch and crawl out of financial troubles as we are led to believe.

After 3 weeks of no calls from Jason and 2 weeks of no calls from Lou, I called Lou tearfully and told her that I was so broke that I had gone to a local food bank. When Lou heard that, she really sprung into action. That afternoon, she called back and said she had a position at the county shelter and asked if I was interested. *Yes!* I would be interested!! Then she told me how little the job paid....it was a full $6.50/hour less than my last temp position. I thought about it like a millisecond then said that I didn't care -  I still needed a job, so yes I would take it because I had to have income. And that, folks, was one of the best decisions I made last year because I met 2 totally wonderful kind, caring individuals who became pivotal in my survival...Kathi and Janet.

When I said that I was lucky enough to find 4 people who were willing to help someone down on their luck - well, 2013 was my jackpot. Here's how that list shook out: Janice was first, followed by Lou, Kathi, and last, but by no means least, Janet. Those wonderful women refused to let me give in to my anger, tears, or mounting depression, and indeed, set in motion the *fortunate* series of events that led to my current permanent position earning a higher rate of pay than when I lost my job in April 2013.

Bottom Line: You really *can* teach an old horse new tricks.