There was about a week in this past month where I seriously would dread going to work. Not because I didn't like it, but I just really hated the whole being on a time schedule thing. I'm not a 9-5 type of person, and thank goodness my "schedule" rotates, but even then I work about 50 hours a week, sometimes more. I was just getting like over it and needed a vacation and a massage from my momma. HAHA! The women still meant the world to me during this time, but I was pretty much in bitch mode (and not the sweet kind either haha). I pretty much wouldn't let the women give me crap and was really strict with the families at crisis. Basically, I've toughened up. This is not entirely a bad or mean thing, I just was getting frustrated with certain women and knew I had favorites (hell I absolutely still do) so, Samii the Bitch came out to play.
Funny story...
Remember that older woman that totally was a bitch to me because she had the impression that I thought she was a substance abuser or had mental health problems merely because she was in the shelter? Well she is definitely not a favorite, but she is afraid of me now. It's fabulous. She came in with her daughter who is only a year older than me (another reason why she hated me) and I'm her daughter's case manager. I know I'm a bitch and may go to hell for saying this, but I honestly have to clue how in god's name anyone gave her daughter a college degree. Like seriously she would lose all her papers, forget when to meet, would rely on everyone but herself, blame others for EVERYTHING, and she completely fooled me by saying she had savings. She literally would give me deposit statements and I, thinking since she didn't have any problems with mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and because she's got a college degree, that she would really be saving her money. Boy was I played.
It was about the time when I was Samii the Bitch that I asked her to show me her bank statement. She played dumb and said she only gets it once a month, and I was like welp you can walk to the bank and ask the teller or you can pull it up on the computer. She was piiiisssed and it was great- I sensed something was fishy so I made her pull it up right in front of me. Uhmmmm her balance was (7.48). Hmmmmm... Now I'm not gonna lie, my bank account has seen many of the numbers in parenthesis due to my previous love of swiping my card for anything under the sun, so I knew she was in deep shit- especially with me because she's been lying to me. I made her pull up the last 30 days worth of transactions and though she was hesitant, she did so. Mind you she also tried to tell me she had money in her account- woman be crazy. I printed the statement and told her I'd meet with her in a few minutes.
Dude this girl makes about 4 times the amount that I make. No joke. And for some reason she had a negative amount of money so my reactions were mixed with holy shit and what the hell. Until I looked at what she was spending her money on and it quickly turned into a good old southern HELL NAW.
Here statement showed places like Applebees, Ruby Tuesday, IHop, Bath&Body Works, CVS, more Applebees and Ruby Tuesday, more eateries, more lotions. Uhmmmm what? I was pissed, which was not good because I was going to vouch for her in a meeting for her to get an extension. Noooot anymore. So I bring her in and try to be as nice as possible and asked her what's going on. Maybe she didn't know she was in the negative, right? I give her the benefit of the doubt. Man this girl was good. She starts off with this sob story of how she feels so bad for her mom and how she feels she needs to repay her mom for everything she has ever done for her so she likes to take her out to lunch and buy her things. If it were any other week, I may have let her slide a tiny bit and maybe just give her a write up- maybe, but this being Samii the Bitch week, I said the following:
"You spent over $200 in the past two weeks on food. We give you two meals a day during the week and 3 meals a day on the weekends. I understand that you need to eat lunch and I understand how you feel about your mother- I would have the same feelings if I were in your position, but the reality is, you are living in a homeless shelter and you do not need to be going to Applebees and Ruby Tuesdays for lunch and spend $40 on one meal. In fact I find that ridiculous coming in to the shelter knowing you spent $40 on food while a dinner volunteer brings you a meal and you act as if you haven't eaten all day. There are soup kitchens open every single day if you're hungry and if you didn't want to eat there than you can order off the dollar menu at McDonalds."
Needless to say, she wasn't very happy with me. She argued with me, tried to make me look like the ridiculous one, and when she saw it wasn't working, she was fuming. Since her two month stay was almost over, I asked her what her plans are for when she had to move out. She said she was banking on an extension and when I told her that right now that doesn't look like a possibility she said that she would pay for an apartment. I asked how she would pay for it if she didn't have any money and she looked at me as if I was stupid and soon would not look at me, but would make my coworker re-ask the question and she would only answer it to them. It was hilarious- I know I'm mean for saying/thinking this, but seriously? I was polite the entire time, in fact my coworkers said they were proud of me for holding my ground with her and for being so stern. I do not understand how she thinks she would get away with that.
I tried putting myself in her shoes. Having my mother lose her job and getting evicted from our apartment, then it being too cold at night to sleep in the car turns into entering a shelter. As a mother that would be devastating. As a daughter, I'm sure I would be pissed at my mother, but also want to help her out as much as possible (just as she did). I'd like to think I have enough common sense to save my earnings and not go to eat at middle class restaurants- especially not everyday. I'm in no way better than this woman. In no way. I just am awed by the fact that she thinks this is okay. It was as if she was trying to live this lifestyle that she wanted but clearly because the fact that she's in a homeless shelter, doesn't have.
There are a few things that really irked me about the situation. 1) she played me a fool and lied to me 2) she would have these great lunches everyday with her mom when I want nothing more than to see my mom right now 3) she would come to dinner and act as if she hadn't eaten all day and 4) she totally could have gotten meat at these eateries and my roommates and I rarely eat meat. I know, I know, I should not compare myself to her at all, and I still do not think I am better than her in any way, I just get really irritated by the whole situation- especially because of number one haha
The next day, she came to the main office and tried to explain herself again to my boss, and thank the good lord he was on the same page as me. She did not get an extension and she is now no longer living at the shelter- but her mother is. It's the strangest thing. She is doing fine and living with friends. Her mother told me that she is re-learning how to be an adult, which is all I can hope to ask I was able to push her to do. Right?
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