11. It’s the sort of blind faith that comes with confidence, sweetheart.

 

Serendipitous events happen quite often when you’re looking; at least that’s what I find. A ‘How to Avoid Workfare’ (How to stop the jobcentre monitoring you, taking advantage of you and making you work for free) pamphlet fell into my possession the day before I got a letter telling me I’m going to be sent to some unknown location to work for no pay until I find myself a paying job.

I did this before, when I was on jobseekers allowance the first time, when I was a little more innocent, trusting and fresh out of school. I ended up working for a racist and got absolutely nothing out of it apart from some life experience and the loss of some of that said innocence. My experience was not as bad as others though. A friend of mine who was sent on a ‘work experience scheme’ was sexually assaulted by the boss. She managed to fight him off and run before anything serious happened, but when she refused to go back the jobcentre refused to give her her allowance.

England such a nice country isn’t it?

I came up with a plan, to find some volunteer work that’s on my terms before they send me someplace. So, far I haven’t had much luck, but I’m not giving up just yet.

I suppose when it comes down to it I’ve just got to have faith and keep going, believing with all my heart and all my effort that I can unravel this spider’s web I’ve tangled myself up in, one thread at a time.