Letter from afar sends message of goodwill to jobless man
In a season of deserted downtown streets and many empty wallets, the human spirit can still offset a lack of Christmas cheer.
Kind words are often all it takes. Sometimes they might come from a stranger living across the country. This is one such story.
A woman named Cindy in Bullock, N.C., sent me a letter — yes, an old-fashioned letter — in hopes of reaching a gent I recently wrote about.
His name is Tim. He is a 66-year-old resident of Santa Fe whose job at a retail store was terminated during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tim had worked at the store for 22 years. He was an herbalist by title, but no assignment was beneath him.
He boarded his bicycle the evening of July 17, pedaling to a bank to deposit money from the day’s sales. It was his last ride for the store.
A wreck occurred on St. Michael’s Drive. Tim landed in a hospital with a concussion and bleeding in his brain. He would later be diagnosed with a blood clot in his right thigh.
He remembers nothing about the accident. Police and ambulance reports are stark, shedding no light on what happened.
The aftermath is much clearer. With the help of a friend, Tim deposited all the money the day he was released from the hospital.
While Tim convalesced, the boss eliminated Tim’s job and canceled his medical insurance.
Tim applied for unemployment benefits Sept. 4, but his long wait continues. He heard nothing from the state Department of Workforce Solutions until the second week in December, when I inquired about his case.
Cindy, who’s had a trying year in North Carolina, read my column about Tim. She wrote to me, enclosing a letter to Tim in hopes of befriending him.
“Please do not think me strange,” she began. “If you have a girlfriend or are married please let her know I do not mean any harm. I am reaching across the miles to connect as pen pals, perhaps.
“I am old school, 63 years young and not on Facebook or social media. I think many of us that are older are going through some pretty tough times.
“Your story is hard to keep calm about. I was in HR with a company, and the mother hen part of me wanted to keep the workers we had to lay off.
“To get unemployment is a tough job. The system is overburdened. It is not a joke.
“I then lost my job, but I have my health. It is hard to know why companies make the decisions they do.
“I am not here to bring you down. I just wanted to send words of encouragement and tell you Merry Christmas.”
Tim said he looks forward to reading her full letter, which covers more column inches than I have in this space.
As for Tim’s unemployment claim, it’s in limbo, he said. He received two emails about his application from Bill McCamley, Cabinet secretary of the Department of Workforce Solutions.
Neither message helped Tim understand what snag or rule has prevented him from receiving unemployment benefits. He has checked his online application faithfully, ready to supply any missing information to a caseworker.
McCamley has spoken to me in a general way about the process and what might have stalled Tim’s application.
The state had 119,000 unemployment claims in December — 12 times more than before the pandemic. McCamley said most were processed in three to six weeks.
Yet Tim waited 12 weeks before receiving any communication from Workforce Solutions. McCamley then wrote to Tim, saying he becomes personally involved when he learns of cases with unexplained and frustrating delays.
McCamley said his department’s lack of communication with Tim was unacceptable. The Cabinet secretary promised that Tim’s application would receive proper attention.
His agency is on the case, but Tim says he’s not sure what is happening.
As Christmas was about to arrive, so did Cindy’s letter to Tim.
She quoted from a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier: “When care is pressing you down a bit, rest if you must but don’t you quit.”
Tim is still looking for answers, but a pen pal has found him. The holiday is a bit brighter.
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.