How scary is your job centre?! lighthearted

anisty · February 26

Was going to put this in the coffee lounge as a funny story but didn't want to bring down the mood of the place.🤣

So i had a letter to hand in at our local JC in respect of our son's claim and i gave it to hubby last night as he was going to town anyway today.

Hubby has not been in a job centre since circa 1982 so I gave him a bit of preparation about what to expect - told him he'd be surrounded by men in riot gear and to watch out for the guns.

He came in tonight, mission accomplished. He said he thought the job centre was a place where they had boards with job cards on (remember those days!)

Instead he'd been stopped at the door by a man in riot gear as i described who gruffly asked if he had an appointment.

He said he did not and stepped forward with the letter to get a hand in his face and a "STOP!!!" Right enough i suppose anything could have been in that letter.

Then a pointed hand and "COUCH" (meaning go and sit on the couch)

He came out quite traumatised 😂😂

How scary is your job centre and do they really have to be quite so agressive?! I don't think they really have guns but they do look like one wrong word and you'd be trussed up and bundled into the basement!

WhatThe · February 26

Spot on!

Yes, same here.

Ziadawn · February 26

I actually remember the job cards on boards in the job centers. Like I remember the days you could walk in, and ask what benefits you could claim. My local job center have the same security guys that my morrisons supermarket uses. The security guy always checked me out because he remembered me, but not sure why he remembered me. And what is it with job centers that say you have to go in, and do a job search on their computer. Both times they had one computer, and there was always one guy who looked like he was going to grow roots. So no one else got to use the computer.

Kimi87 · February 26

Have you ever used a JCP toilet?

I did, must have been 20 years ago but I'm still traumatised 😂

Prison style doesn't cover it!

anisty · February 26

Haven't asked to use a loo but the guy that wrote this funny article which appeared in The New Statesman asked and was refused!

Despite living in the centre of Manchester, two minutes from Piccadilly train station, the nearest job centre was miles away, in a part of Salford I’d never visited before. I arrived for my initial assessment after a 55-minute walk. They refused to let me use the toilet or have a glass of water – basic amenities in a public building.

Throughout the process, I felt like I’d fallen into the pages of Kafka’s The Trial. The process of receiving a benefit seemed to be peppered with vague and arbitrary rules that no one explained, and my treatment at the job centre made me wonder if I’d committed an imaginary crime.

anisty · February 26

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/01/every-time-i-visit-job-centre-staff-treat-me-subhuman

Link to full article.

yellowpineapple84 · February 26

This is awful, it really is traumatising going into those places. I don’t know why they treat us like that. Its demoralising

WhatThe · February 26

On each visit to the job centre, there were more members of the security team in the building than claimants. Three uniformed G4S employees manned the door. There were more security guards than in a club or in front of a particularly troublesome pub when there’s a football match on. I was instructed to sit down on a bench and wait, with a member of the G4S security team hovering behind me, as though I required some kind of supervision.

Yes. All of the above. I stand until I'm at the interview desk.

anisty, how do we make this light-hearted? 😱

anisty · February 26

Hmmm. Good job I didn't post in the coffee lounge!

It's just too traumatic for those of us who have to go there. The thought of my poor hubby getting a hand to his face made me laugh but actually there is a serious side to this treatment.

It is Soooo belittling and intimidating. I hope we can look back and laugh at our experiences one day but it sure isn't funny in the moment.

And so unnecessary - all the agression. I'm sure they must get difficult claimants in there but i haven't seen any.

charlie72 · February 27

I used to have one particular security guard who always seemed to follow me round my JC , it was very unnerving and weird. I was always polite with them so maybe they found it a pleasant surprise to be greeted in a friendly manner! There was a young advisor though that had a really bad reputation with claimants, and spoke to us like dog muck on bottom of her shoe, she was only there a few months, so I assume she was asked to leave or something. Thank god I don't have to go there anymore, apart from last year to hand a form in, without an appointment, I just called in as I was passing. They looked at me like I'd got 2 heads for not having an appointment and just wanted to give them a form, I couldn't wait to get out of there, it felt so morbid and hostlie!!

How scary is your job centre?! lighthearted

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