Summary

Lelah joins the line at the unemployment department’s Problem Resolution Office along with about 60 others. She notes as many white people as there are black and the prospect that so many white people are unemployed reveals how difficult times really are. A young man tries to cut the line in front of Lelah, but a savvy woman behind her soon had him going to the back of the line. When she finally gets to the front, she is unable to find the rejection letter that was sent to her. The woman at the counter tells her she isn’t eligible and asks what happened when she spoke with MARTHA, but Lelah tells her she couldn’t get through. She learns that she has to get her employer to officially fire her before she...