Clients often ask me what they should and should not do during their Social Security disability hearings. There are some specifics, of course, but the main thing is always the same: tell the truth. Fortunately, most clients take this to heart and are honest when testifying. Some, however, sabotage their cases with a careless mistruth.
A Broken Network And A Broken Bond
The importance of being straightforward and honest has really struck me lately. My internet service provider, Cox Communications, started having trouble with their network sixteen days ago. It’s so bad that it prevents me from doing the work I need to represent my clients. OK, so things fall apart and we move on. In a world locked down by a virus, slow internet service is hardly a critical issue.
The problem I have is that Cox repeatedly lied to me about the nature of the problem and when it would be repaired, if ever. They give ever-shifting explanations about what is wrong. They make up phony timelines for when the service will be back. Yesterday a Cox representative told me that the outage would be over at 10:18 PM. Not 10:19 nor 10:20-10:18. Of course, that time came and went and nothing changed. A week ago a Cox representative told me the problem would be fixed at 3:30. Today, a Cox representative told me the problem would be repaired at . . . . you guessed it: 3:30.
A Lesson For Us All
There is a lesson in this for all of us, me especially. I have to recommit to being honest with my Social Security disability clients. I need to be straight with them about how slow the process is. I cannot give them false hopes about getting a resolution of their claims by any particular date when I cannot be sure that is the case.
It hurts to be lied to by the people you depend on. It seems that in these times everyone from the President down to the person answering the telephone at Cox communications thinks that lying is perfectly fine.
We can do better. I will certainly try to be as honest as I can. Who knows? Maybe I’ll start a trend.
