so this morning i went to the unemployment office. no sooner do i get there, pick up some forms i have to fill out and sit down, some guy asks if he can take the seat next to me...
trying not to be rude, i said okay... there were 20 other empty seats. now he's so close that his sleeve was brushing mine.
okay... so as i fill out my forms he notices my cross i have on my necklace ($5 at kohls, everyone) and interrupts me to ask "are you a christian?"... eh... yeah.
okay... fine... so i am done with my forms... and i promptly pick up my book that i am reading... trying to ignore him and his cologne... actually he smelled more like jock itch spray (i know this from an ex-boyfriend... ick.)
but no. the book doesn't deter him... "excuse me, may i ask you something?"
'um... okay?'
"do you have a boyfriend?"
so, being the proper christian girl that i am, i lied, and said "yes. yes i do"
then he says "you're so cute. it figures"
which is very nice... and he was pleasant looking enough, but, um, WE ARE BOTH on the dole... plus it sort of freaked me out.
so i shove my nose back into my book until the employment reorientation meeting begins... come on! why are they always starting stuff late?
next we have to sit in another room. and yes, i have my seat partner next to me again.
so then he starts asking what i do (or did) for work... web design... "that's unbelievable!"... eh... okay... so he's a nice guy... probably in his 20's, god only knows, i wasn't really trying to size him up. then he says how he's been thinking of getting a website and wants to know how to design it, set it up blah blah blah... so he asks for my email address...
before i could rethink this "networking" thing (*eh... what the hell would he pay me for a website with? the unemployment check that he's getting?) i, um, wrote down my gigglechickha address...
as soon as it left my hand my brain was screaming "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR????"
and so the email that was forthcoming, came at 5:31pm this evening... here's a portion. and i know, i am being a bitch by even writing any of this, but come on. at the unemployment office???
Dear Erin, Hi! Just wanted to write you. I'm really not one much for writing - but with you I surely wanted a way to talk with you! I know you said you have a boyfriend - didn't surprise me at all - happy though to not hear you say you're married - I definitely wanted a way to keep in touch with you, I was glad you gave me your email. If your willing, we can be friends, maybe even do something sometime as friends - besides, who knows, things constantly change, down the road you may be as I, just looking for that right person to share life with! As for me, I am single, though I want to someday get married, possibly have children, never found the right woman yet. If dreams could come true, I would want a Christian wife that looks like you! When I first saw you, I just thought you were so beautiful - just had to let you know!
okay. i understand that that's one of the sweetest notes... eh... but... the wife stuff? god help me.
anyone else get hit on today at an unemployment office?
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i remember in 1997 i had to go to unemployment in NYC... so i was standing there in line, looking disheveled and depressed because i felt awful for being on the dole... and all of these models were standing in line because they didn't have work or something so in line it's model model model erin model model model... which made me feel swell... but even better, ABCnews comes in with cameras to do a frickin' story on unemployment so it's the beautiful people and the depressed acne-riddled fat girl in line... *sigh*...

