A rant

So, I was supposed to get my EI money on friday.  Of course, it hasn't come in through direct deposit.  I checked friday night at midnight, and nothing.  Ditto a few times on saturday.  Zilch.  I even checked monday night at around 3 am, because I happened to still be awake, and the offices in Ottawa would just be opening around then, after the long weekend.  Bleary-eyed, I fumbled with the ATM.  Still no cash.

A homeless guy walked by me, and casually asked for some change.  I shook my head, thinking to myself I was gonna ask you the same thing. 

It was the first thing I did this morning, too.  Got up, got dressed, and made my way down to the mall to check my money situation.  I'm beginning to have fears that mall security are going to start thinking I either have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or I'm a bank ATM enthusiast.  Still no cash.

I checked online, to make sure I had filed the report.  Yyup.  In polite government speak, it told me that I had just filed a report, and that my next was due for almost two weeks from now.  I could read between the lines.  It said "Nice try, Dave.  You're not getting any more money from us.  Piss off."

So, I call their number.  Get a message.  First thing the message says "If you are calling about late EI Payments, they have been delayed due to the long weekend, and will arrive a day later than usual".

A vein starts to throb in my head.  My newt looks up at me, mounting the plastic turtle.  I begin to wonder if newts are really as poisonous as everyone says, because I'm running out of cash... and food... I'll have to eat my fish first.

Brilliant work on the government's part.  Schedule a payment for the day before thanksgiving... and then don't pay them out because of the long weekend (and because of how FLEX days work, their office was probably half-staffed on friday). I wonder how many people out there, out of work parents, who couldn't afford thanksgiving because some people in Ottawa decided to leave early before mailing out the cheques? 

"I'm sorry, Timmy.  Mummy couldn't afford a turkey this year.  Eat your SPAM."

I worked in government.  We're not the most dedicated of people, true, but at least in my branch, we made sure the people got their money (or, in our case, licences so they could earn money).  Didn't matter if it was Christmas tomorrow... if a guy was missing a licence because of our own failure, you fixed it.  If a LOT of people were going to be screwed over by something, you paid the office workers their overtime and got it fixed.

Silly gits.