Babies and Buddies

Babies and Buddies

Hey folks, what’s good? Well, since we last talked, I STILL haven’t found a job (not surprising with Michigan’s HIGH ASS unemployment rate!) I HAVE applied to a zillion and one places but have only had two phone interviews from Home Depot who was supposed to be calling me back for a “real” face to face interview and they have YET to do so. But I also know that many times it takes HR dept’s up to a month later to call folks back…..remember, I WORKED in HR, so I know….I just HATE being on THIS side of the fence!

So, I plug on and have been trying to find a job and this is what I dreaded MOST….the CONSTANT pressure and irritation of TRYING to find a job! It’s exhausting. Finding a job IS a job! Since I have been off, I have caught up on a few blogs though that’s a good thing !

My family is home with me this week (took the baby out of daycare because we’d have to pay for 5 days and they’d only have to work for 3 due to Thanksgiving, so we decided to keep him home this week. And my husband took Mon-Wed off too). So, I have a little company this week! I have a phone interview for a Regional HR Manager position with a company in the city that I live in which is GREAT and hopefully more potential jobs will come through.

But get this ya’ll: You know that since I was terminated and didn’t quit, I AM eligible for unemployment right? Well, why was one of my friends telling me “you know that if you are OFFERED a job that if you do NOT take it that the State of Michigan WILL cut your unemployment off, right?”

Hold up? S’cuse me?

I said, “nooooooooooo…..so…..if I get offered a BULLSHIT ass job, I am OBLIGATED to take it???? How would they KNOW if I don’t? How do they find out? How in the fuck is that shit reported?”

I had a plethora of questions because not ONCE in my TEN YEARS in HR have I EVER even SEEN a reporting format to REPORT to the State when I only OFFERED someone a job! How would they even KNOW that I had had an interview with the damn company????? I asked several other people and they seemed to confirm what my first friend had said, but they didn’t have answers to my “how the fuck would they know?” questions either. I am disturbed. So, I go to the handy-dandy Unemployment Booklet that was sent to me when I applied for unemployment and it said:

In short.......“You will be disqualified….if you refuse a REASONABLE offer of employment…..reasonable is determined to be any position that pays 70% or more of what you previously made.”

WHAT IN THE FUCK?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am NOT taking a job that pays THIRTY PERCENT LESS than what I MADE just to say that I have taken a job and gotten off of their system!!!!!!!!! That’s what they are there for!!! BITCHES!!!!!!!!! DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL! That is purely and simply fucked up!

I still will take my chances. I am not about to accept some dumb ass job that pays that much LESS, and I don’t even LIKE the job. No.

So, anyway….. my girl that I used to work with had a baby over the weekend. There has been much to say about her that I simply haven’t because the story is so long. But the long and short of it is that since she was fired on November 18, 2005, she has gone DOWN into the gutter and her family (who were already a bunch a gutter rats) have been oh-so-happy to goad her down that road. She was always the best achiever in the family and supported many of them in different ways and her pre-adolescent child on a meager 30-some thousand dollar salary. She had TWO houses (one she rented out) , a new car, always was “appearance-wise” , together and now…….well, let’s just say that when I talked to her sister because LITERALLY over the past year, I have spoken to her when she NEEDED SOMETHING and that may have been all of less than 10 times, her sister told me that the nigga that she has been fucking with who she SWEEEEEEARS she is gonna leave, had her strung out on “51” cigarettes (assumingly WHILE she was pregnant, per the sister). What is a “51”? It is weed laced with CRACK. Did ya’ll hear me?

CRACK!!!!

Even though she was from that environment, she always proclaimed to loathe it. I mean, she’s beautiful (no for real….every time we went ANYPLACE, men were ALL OVER HER…..very pretty girl) And now she has fallen so far. I personally think that she had a breakdown. A real mental breakdown. When I finally talked to her after she moved to Atlanta , stayed in shelters, in her van with her 13 year old kid, her 16 year old nephew, this nigga and her big ass Rottweiler dog, and came BACK (all while pregnant mind you), she told me that she wanted to be through with him and after the baby was born that she was done. Yeah o.k. chick, tell it to someone who might believe you. So I asked her did she have any idea what the baby was. Her response? “ I haven’t really had any prenatal care”. WHAT???? WHY???? (at the time I knew nothing of the “51’s”) . So she hadn’t even BEEN to the OB/GYN during her WHOLLLLLLLE pregnancy. Now I see why. She didn’t want them to find CRACK in her system!

Anyway……. I had some items that I said (to myself) that if the State's Child Protective Services didn’t TAKE the baby away from her, I would give her. She called me on Thursday and told me that she was in the hospital and that she was about to have the baby. I told her that I was going to come see her. She told me that the baby was a boy (they’d done an ultrasound). She had the baby on Friday, 7lbs 12 oz. and she is going to aptly name him Chance. Cause this IS her chance to get OUT OF this pattern, this IS her chance to get this together. I have no idea if she will. I hope so. I gave her lots of stuff that I was saving in case I (hopefully) have another child. But she needs it more than I do. Well, they didn’t take the baby so the baby MUST have been O.K. and she MUST have stopped doing drugs (if that was the case….remember, this was per her sister…).

I really fear for that little baby. He’s being born into terrible circumstances. But I do believe that she was doing drugs previously…...even though the baby seems fine.....she has fallen too far and has hit rock bottom. She didn’t even have a car seat to take the baby home (which they will NOT let you leave without), so she had to call her brother (also a non-working procreator) to get his baby’s mama’s infant car seat (he has a 1 year old). Sad……..She recently got Welfare assistance, so she has some way to get food,etc for her self. But the nigga who as far as I am concerned is THEE problem, was/is still present. I am so sad that she had a baby by HIS ass of all people! He is older than me (he’s like 37) and has the mentality and work ethic of a 10 year old and I am not being facetious. I.E….he doesn’t work, he sits around up under her all day watching cartoons (literally ya'll) and he is just an ignorant ass. What kept her? Hear her tell it “The dick is the biggest and BEST that I’ve ever had ….”…..whatever….the dick ain’t worth your life. All I can do is pray.

So, the culmination of all of this is that I went to see the baby and the baby looks great! I was so surprised and so happy. Cute as little newborns go ( you know…they all look like Chinese babies for the most part). But he looks to be healthy and was a great weight! I held him for awhile and said a silent prayer for him

On Sunday, I went to Breakfast with Zed at Detroit’s Breakfast House . If you ever come to Detroit or live here, you NEED to experience this place! Great ambiance, and even BETTER food with excellent service! It’s nice to see a good eatery in the Metro Detroit area. Cause they’re limited IN the city. Now the suburbs……. Plenty of good eateries, but Detroit proper, not so much. Usually the service is HORRIBLE and the staff is ghetto. Sorry….but most of the places inside the city limits simply are….(there are exceptions of course).

So, Me & Zed talked reminisced and had a great time. Me & Zed used to go out alllllllllll the time, pre-husband. But it seems like when I got married all my male friends took the “out of respect of your husband” thing TOOO FAR! And I have MOSTLY male friends! I mean, them nigro’s simply STOPPED calling me! So, it was GREAT to just dine amongst a real friend who know’s you and who you’ve been wanting to reconnect with. We both had the fried chicken and waffles with the side of cheese grits. Good times ya'll....good times......DAMMIT I’m hungry right now!

Then last night my girl Lanee and her hubby, who moved to Richmond, VA last year, were in town for one of Lanee’s close soror’s Engagement Party. So they stopped over and visited with me and Dylan last night. It was soooo good to see her and I really realize how I miss my friends (Zed and Lanee) who moved away. I will probably not see her until next year sometime, so I am glad that I had the chance to see her while she was in town!

All in all, not a bad weekend at all……….