Lights, Sirens, Action!

Today started out like any other, I got up, checked email…everything was fine. In the United States today many radio stations will be carrying a story about my music video release of “Rock and Roll Heaven.” I was quite excited to start the day and I came downstairs, greeted my mom and Max my dog…and then all hell broke loose!

With an Arrrrhhhhhhh!!! from my mom, everything started, and everything went to hell. She was in screaming agony. She sat down on the sofa and for the next half hour as I sat there, she was in pain, and then not and back to pain again. I was of course very worried because my mother has an extremely high threshold for pain, and does not usually actually scream in pain.

I called the local doctors surgery to see about getting her in. I explained that my mother was screaming in agony and she needed to see someone right now! The absolute incompetence of our local doctor’s surgery followed with orchestrated precision. They were unwilling and unable to change from the programmed response. They said that she would not be able to see a doctor until 4PM. By this time I was getting irritated and told them that was simply not good enough, she needed to see a doctor immediately, and would not be able to make it to the surgery under her own locomotion. As expected, I was placed on hold while “she checked” with the doctor on call. She came back and told me that she was unable to get us in before more than an hours time had passed. I told her that an hour was too long, and asked her for the phone number for our local Hospital, I did not think it necessary to call the emergency number. She gave me a number that was incorrect, outdated. With another scream from my mother I made the decision to call 999 and ask for an ambulance.

The ambulance arrived about 20 minutes later with two very pleasant paramedics/EMTs. They talked to her and determined after taking blood pressure and talking about medical history, that it was necessary to take her to the hospital Accident and Emergency Room. When we got there the usual waiting game started and she was finally seen by an emergency room doctor, about an hour later. He said it was nothing serious, and offered her a pain killer that contained Codine. My mother is violently allergic to Codiene, and when informed of this the doctor was unable to offer an alternative other than paracetemol, which is of course not a strong enough drug for agony. She arrived back in the waiting room less than 5 minutes after she had gone in and is still in similar pain now that we are home. I hope this clears up soon.

We had to get a taxi home which started another game when the Taxi driver told us that he had absolutely no idea how much it should cost, and that he thought it would be around 10 pounds, He radioed to his dispatch, and was unable to raise them without incredible interference on the channel. He had a mobile phone in the car and never once considered using it to call his dispatch. We told him we thought it would be around 5 pounds and I actually ended up calling the taxi agency and asking them myself! They informed me it was 4.50 and I told the driver. He was visibly irritated that he was unable to swindle us. So we got home for 4.50.

An incredibly stressful and non-productive morning.

You can never tell what life if going to throw you at you, can you? I will add that I plan to contact the doctor’s surgery and launch an official complaint. I am pleased with the diagnosis of “not serious” anything not serious means we can breathe a little easier, well I can, it still hurts for my mom to take a deep breath. I am hopeful that she will be better in the next couple of days, and I am grateful for the neighbours who have come and asked if I need anything and if my mom is alright. Knowing people care, really helps.

Unemployable?

What makes someone unemployable? Is it just the complacencies of the businesses, uncaring to whom they are giving hiring preference? The inferred answer seems to be more often than not that the potential employee is “over-qualified.”

Just whose decision should it be that the job you are applying to do is too menial for you the guy behind the desk, with the power to hire and fire, secure in his job position?-Or the person who needs a job so badly they can’t afford not take whatever work they can get!

The reason I am concerned about this is my mother is currently in this position. She left her previous employment under duress from unreasonable management and has been unable to find new employment. Not only can she not get someone to give her a job, it seems that interviews are off limits too!

Now, let me explain something to you. My mother is not your average, hum-drum, moron looking to stack shelves and make a few quid to pay for drinks on Friday night. However, she is willing to stack shelves to make the money she needs to survive. The truth of the matter is my mother returned to college at forty years old to study child development. She earned the qualification, Associate of Arts, this is a highly respected degree in American education, but she didn’t simply graduate, she graduated Summa Cum Laude!

At this point you are probably wondering what makes this person so unemployable – A bad CV presentation, poor employment history? The answer to both of those questions is a bold no. Her employment history is flawless, my mother has run her own business and worked as a supervisor in a busy, over-demanding, underpaying post office, and yes she has even stacked shelves at a supermarket. She always writes sophisticated covering letters to accompany her CV when she applies for the various positions. We have speculated that my mother’s gaps in employment history due to her staying home and raising a family have influenced potential employers’ negativity. This should be simply the opposite as her commitment to family shows reliability, respect and most of all the ability to undertake the greatest responsibility of all.

So why is my mom unemployable everywhere she applies? Why doesn’t she even get an interview?

With the characteristics that I have outlined above she would be nothing more than an asset in any department in business! A visit to the job centre leaves my mother feeling like an under-achieving, borderline criminal, due to their “friendly” atmosphere.

What’s wrong with this picture? So tell me again, who’s unemployable?

I am frustrated and worried about this situation – Who can actually help us?

-A Concerned Son…