Furloughed
Hello, everyone. I have some bad news. As of the start of this week, I have been furloughed from my job along with several of my co-workers, and have spent the past two days at home. Although rumors had been circulating since the beginning of last week, I was a bit skeptical of them at first. It was not the first time I'd been told I was being furloughed, and on all of the previous occasions, it was called off at the last minute for one reason or another. But the official word that we would be out of a job came last Wednesday. Due to lack of work, we would be furloughed until further notice, and on Friday, we had to turn in our employee ID cards, remove any personal belongings from our lockers, and stay home until the workload picks back up. Given that my job is as an IRS mail clerk, and the US income tax filing deadline was just last week, this should be our busiest time of year. So, it looks like I might be out of a job for a while.
Things seemed to be looking up for me, as a few weeks prior to my being furloughed, I was detailed out to another area. This resulted not only in me seemingly being spared from the furlough that was being planned, but in me finally getting out of the mailroom. I found the environment and the people there to be more pleasant than being in the mailroom, where my co-workers passed the hour or two until the first mail delivery arrived in idle conversation. The most common topic among the girls who sat across from me, by far, was their sex lives. Given the topics of my last two posts, I'm sure you can imagine that it was starting to take its toll on me, being constantly reminded, all day, every day, of my lack of one. To me, my being detailed out felt like a promotion.
But it was only delaying the inevitable, and now here I am back home. We were told that we would qualify for unemployment during our time off, so yesterday, first thing in the morning, I went online to apply. One of the questions on the application asked me if I would be willing to pursue futher education, which I answered "yes" to. I don't really know how long the furlough will last, but when I was first hired, I was told that, as a "seasonal" employee, we would possibly be furloughed at times. Since I was told that they would most likely come at predictable intervals, I figured I'd spend the time off getting some sort of formal education in writing, which would hopefully lead to opportunities to have some of my writing published, and if that didn't work out, I'd still be able to support myself through my day job.
After getting confirmation that the unemployment office received my application, my first thought was to get my mind off my troubles for a while by checking out the upcoming Magic: the Gathering set in preparation for this weekend's prerelease tournament. But, less than an hour after submitting my unemployment application, I started having my reading about the new set constantly interrupted by calls from college admissions officers who seemed more like telemarketers than representatives of institutions of higher learning. I heard things like "Did you know you can get your master's degree in 18 months through our online program?" Two of them told me things like "I'll give you some time to look at what we have to offer, and I'll call you again around 5:00 PM tomorrow," in an effort to get me to commit to speaking to them again at a time of their choosing. While going back to school is an option I'm considering, it's something I'd rather explore on my own terms, rather than being railroaded into commiting to something I'd had mere minutes to consider.
In fact, two of the people who called me addressed me as "ma'am." You'd think with me having a masculine name, they'd realize I'm a man, but apparently they didn't, even after hearing me speak. Sometimes, when people call on the phone looking for my mother, they mistake me for her, but these people didn't even have that excuse. It makes me wonder. Is my voice really that feminine sounding? At least I know if I ever decide to become a voice actor, I'd have a greater variety of roles I could play. There are female voice actors who play male roles out there, so why not the reverse?
Things seemed to be looking up for me, as a few weeks prior to my being furloughed, I was detailed out to another area. This resulted not only in me seemingly being spared from the furlough that was being planned, but in me finally getting out of the mailroom. I found the environment and the people there to be more pleasant than being in the mailroom, where my co-workers passed the hour or two until the first mail delivery arrived in idle conversation. The most common topic among the girls who sat across from me, by far, was their sex lives. Given the topics of my last two posts, I'm sure you can imagine that it was starting to take its toll on me, being constantly reminded, all day, every day, of my lack of one. To me, my being detailed out felt like a promotion.
But it was only delaying the inevitable, and now here I am back home. We were told that we would qualify for unemployment during our time off, so yesterday, first thing in the morning, I went online to apply. One of the questions on the application asked me if I would be willing to pursue futher education, which I answered "yes" to. I don't really know how long the furlough will last, but when I was first hired, I was told that, as a "seasonal" employee, we would possibly be furloughed at times. Since I was told that they would most likely come at predictable intervals, I figured I'd spend the time off getting some sort of formal education in writing, which would hopefully lead to opportunities to have some of my writing published, and if that didn't work out, I'd still be able to support myself through my day job.
After getting confirmation that the unemployment office received my application, my first thought was to get my mind off my troubles for a while by checking out the upcoming Magic: the Gathering set in preparation for this weekend's prerelease tournament. But, less than an hour after submitting my unemployment application, I started having my reading about the new set constantly interrupted by calls from college admissions officers who seemed more like telemarketers than representatives of institutions of higher learning. I heard things like "Did you know you can get your master's degree in 18 months through our online program?" Two of them told me things like "I'll give you some time to look at what we have to offer, and I'll call you again around 5:00 PM tomorrow," in an effort to get me to commit to speaking to them again at a time of their choosing. While going back to school is an option I'm considering, it's something I'd rather explore on my own terms, rather than being railroaded into commiting to something I'd had mere minutes to consider.
In fact, two of the people who called me addressed me as "ma'am." You'd think with me having a masculine name, they'd realize I'm a man, but apparently they didn't, even after hearing me speak. Sometimes, when people call on the phone looking for my mother, they mistake me for her, but these people didn't even have that excuse. It makes me wonder. Is my voice really that feminine sounding? At least I know if I ever decide to become a voice actor, I'd have a greater variety of roles I could play. There are female voice actors who play male roles out there, so why not the reverse?