Eish! London 5 - 6 May

Tuesday, 5 May

The school supply day was a good one today with no major dramas, thank the Lord. I had my application with me and I almost handed it in; but something stopped me. I have no idea what or why, but I couldn’t do it. The big envelope, the documents, references and everything to make the application complete was there, except my desire to hand it over.

I had chatted to Jonn at his birthday party and he had said that if I say I heard about a job through the internet, or applied from a newspaper advert, then no agency could dispute a successful application. So I had found the advert on the internet and in my application I said that that was where I had heard of the job. After the way the agency had treated me, they couldn’t expect loyalty; but maybe my subconscious disagreed with my application lie. Possibly I didn’t feel I was qualified enough to teach the learners at the level they should be taught; or, deep down, I felt the hours of watching learners laugh and joke around about something I love was too much for me. Maybe I felt I needed to give the acting dream a proper go and a permanent teaching role wouldn’t help that purpose; or I thought a permanent job would get in the way of travelling the world. Maybe it was a daft decision, but whatever it was, I didn’t hand in the application. I let the opportunity go and I have no valid, tangible reason for it, but I did.

Wednesday, 6 May

Hip hip Hooray!! I have a payroll account and I can now be paid for the work I have done. Amen! I emailed the agencies with my details.

Unbelievable! Remember I emailed that Wayne guy asking him not to pay me? Remember I emailed saying I would tell him when everything was sorted with my payroll company? Well, clearly he’s not very good at reading! I received this email today:

From: Wayne
Subject: RE: Payroll details
Date: Wednesday, 6 May, 2009, 11:49

Hi Shannan

Thanks for sending us your Payroll Ref no. – unfortunately we need confirmation from them before we can pay you through them and we have also already processed your timesheet directly through our finance department this week as you sent me your personal bank account details so I presumed you were wanting to be paid directly by us. So we can switch you over to a Payroll Company as soon as we receive confirmation from them – you will be receiving £170.80 in your account on Friday for the 2 days you did for the week ending 03/05/09.

Regards

Wayne

What incompetence! They told me I had to send bank details; it wasn’t an optional part of the interview. Why tell me to send details for my records if you don’t need them? Why not read my email? When I say: "Do not pay me", I mean: "Don’t pay me!" On top of that I was EXTRA LIVID! £170.80! By my math, £120.00 plus £150.00 is £270.00, what has happened to the £90.00 (never mind the travel compensation they promised!)? This is madness! Infuriating Madness! I had had enough, and I sent him an email saying so, requesting his urgent response. I left it in my drafts to edit, so my anger wasn’t as forceful and then I sent it the next day. (I later learned that the missing money went to tax and NI. If you don’t have a National Insurance Number, then you have to pay more tax).

When work gets too much, do something you enjoy! Thus, after typing the above mentioned email response, I started searching the internet for auditions and theatre companies and possibilities. I’m gradually finding things and learning things, but it is taking a lot of time; and some of the sites say I have to pay them simply to receive their audition notices. I’m not exactly in a position to do that, am I? I’ve joined some online casting notification lists, even though I can’t access the details of the auditions until I pay a monthly fee. Nevermind, I shall persevere!

"We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us…" Romans 5:3-5