The company line.

Well, at nearly 5pm yesterday I got a visit from a commander of something important and the civilian liaison for the building. I had actually just refused to speak to them to someone else who had called, simply because I don't feel going to the people who allowed this mess to happen in the first place is conducive to actually solving any issues. But, they knocked and I'm not completely rude. I could see that they were actually concerned, but for what I don't know. Concerned about the state in which these wounded and their families are sometimes forced to live, or concerned that someone intelligent has finally had enough and just might know enough to cause a problem for them. I'll never know.

What I got was a lot of acknowledgment but not any real answers. As I pointed out, the unsafe parking lot should have never been an issue because it never should have been allowed to exist in its current state. Who thought it was okay? I have never in my life heard of a building that stranded people who couldn't walk by having the only elevators out of service at one time, but somehow this was acceptable last week. Having to go 24 hours without working toilets, which means these guys went 24 hours without any much needed special equipment for toilet use which are used in the rooms, shouldn't be acceptable out in the "real world," much less in a building built by the government meant to take care of our wounded troops. Somehow, all of this still happened despite all of their concern and acknowledgement. Excuse me if I don't trust anyone in this situation as far as I could throw them. I think when I have finally quit feeling so beaten down I will call someone back and let them know that things really weren't resolved. Maybe.

Two ridiculous isolated incidents in as many weeks. Daily struggles with phone use, parking lot use, the showers, and so on and so forth. I just don't even know what to think anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more "unforeseen circumstances" that caused us to live in completely unacceptable conditions. I wonder if these building people know that serving food in the same building as floating human waste is (I am pretty sure) a violation of federal health code. But the cafe in the building was certainly alive and kicking yesterday.

I know they care. I know they try. I just don't think they're given the proper tools to succeed here. Through whatever bureaucracy that has been created to stunt growth and development, through all the different avenues of reporting and documenting, the people who are supposed to "take care of us" can't do it because of a system that isn't designed to facilitate growth, improvement, and change. No one really thought about how handicap these wounded warriors are. The bar was set so low by the Malone House (the previous wounded wounded living facilities at the old WR) that anything had to be better than that. That's really a straw man fallacy if I ever heard one.

I love my "apartment" here in the barracks. I am not ungrateful and neither is anyone else. I feel as if the people in charge aren't honoring the gift of this building by being responsible leaders and showing us how to take care of it. They can't even take care of it. So it feels absolutely suffocating, like a total loss of freedom (because we are forced to live here without any other options), and people don't appreciate what they have because the people in charge can't help us make it better for everyone else to come after us.

So that's what's up right now. I'm beaten down. I'm done. I want to leave here as soon as possible and get an apartment nearby (I somehow don't think that's going to be an issue for us now). I don't care what happens anymore. I just don't feel that I have the energy to write the press or call Congress critters, or do anything else further than what I've done. They tried to placate me but it didn't work, it just taught me that nothing really is going happen in any efficient or expedited fashion. I did get one answer- the staff working duty desks will be undergoing customer service training from Disney. At least that will get better. God, do they ever need it.