They sure didn't cover this in training!

[Slave to the Phone]

Me on the phone doing an interview with a customer: Hello, I'm Slave and I'm going to be helping you today. What are we doing?
Her: I need to apply for food stamps, I lost my job last week.
Me: I'm sorry to hear that, did you get a letter of termination?
Her: No, and I don't think one will be forthcoming. The owner went crazy and had to be locked up.
Me:

(As it happens, we do have procedures we can take when a business closes their doors overnight, so I was able to help her. From things I learned during the interview, it was a nightmare, the poor man didn't have any close family and was the sole owner of a small business. His employees could tell that he was in the process of a meltdown, but didn't know anyone to call. The police got involved and he was involuntarily checked into a treatment facility.)

[csquared]

So sad, for everyone.

[Slave to the Phone]

Oh, I agree, a totally sad situation all around. I didn't post this to make fun of anyone besides myself. I honestly did have to sit there for a few seconds before putting her on hold while I chased down a Sup.

What the heck do you say in such a situation?

[bainsidhe]

What the heck do you say in such a situation?

"I'm sorry to hear that. Let me see what I can do to help you today."

My workplace mostly deals with other businesses, so it's less common to encounter personal drama, but it does happen. And when someone talks about how a family member is ill, or their world is falling apart, there pretty much isn't anything I can say other that what I listed above.

[eltf177]

Just...wow...

I'm guessing with the owner confined the business either closed its doors or was seized by the bank?

[NecessaryCatharsis]

While it is sad for your customer and everyone involved, just by taking the time to track down a way to help you've already said and done the best things for her. I'm sure she was glad to talk to you.

[XCashier]

Wow, that is rough. I can't imagine what everyone went through those last few days. I wish her and her coworkers the best of luck in finding new jobs, and to the owner for getting well.

While it is sad for your customer and everyone involved, just by taking the time to track down a way to help you've already said and done the best things for her. I'm sure she was glad to talk to you.

Yes, exactly. You helped her a lot, and no doubt she greatly appreciates it. Her coworkers will probably be calling you soon.

[Slave to the Phone]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. My customer was able to buy food today.

As to her coworkers, I did address that with her. As long as we stay within the policies and procedures, we actually do have a lot of flex room. I told my customer that the 2 of us had already done the hard part and that if her coworkers come in, they could just tell their worker that Matt (my supervisor) knew what was going on with the company and would sign off on that part of the case.

I like to think that it would give people more confidence to go to a food stamp office armed with a supervisor's name and the knowledge that we knew that their story was true.

[Pixelated]

That is so sad, for the employees and the owner. I'm sure they wondered what the heck to do as they watched him deteriorate.

And you done good, Slave.

[Food Lady]

That poor man. You did well. You met the physical need so that in turn the emotional needs can be met. It is just a heartbreaking situation, especially for the employees whom I'm sure cared about him and just didn't know what to do to help him.

[Slave to the Phone]

As it happens, I was able to help more than I knew. I'm smoking buddies with someone who works on the jobs side of the agency. While we were out on a break, I told her about that case. Not gossiping and no names involved, but just how sad the whole thing was. Half an hour or so later, Matt emailed me and asked me to send him all of my notes on that case. I did so and promptly forgot about it.

My smoking buddy called me today on a totally not work related subject but happened to mention that Matt had forwarded my notes to her and she passed them on to the Unemployment people so they could have verification that the business had gone belly up so they could process claims from those employees without delay.

She also said that she had gotten an email back late Friday telling her thank you and that all UI claims from employees with terminated employment from that company in the last 30 days would be approved as long as other requirements were met.

I feel pretty good about the fact that some random chit chat between government workers helped make things work smoother for our customers. This is supposed to be how an efficient government works all the time, but for the most part, its just happenstance.

[Minflick]

What a sweet chain of events to follow a painful and heartbreaking chain of events! People doing their jobs with kindness and consideration are what give me hope for all of us.