HOW ABOUT ME!

"She (the boss) is looking into the idea of a resident association and use of activity funds but nothing has been finalized."

I don’t want to attribute the above quote to anyone, as the author is an optimist who greatly desires to help the residents enjoy life at The Home. I appreciate her optimism, but neither I nor anyone else at The Home believes an activities association (read diversified committee, or a group that fights together) or any activity requiring money will ever be passed. We doubt a discussion has ever started or will ever finish if it has started. A letter was sent in early June directly to the boss requesting funds for our kitchen. There has never been a response. There is a woman who serves as the kitchen coordinator who now begs for supplies. Some requests are granted, others are not denied they are simply not purchased. Residents purchase what we need out of their own gracious spirit.

Requests are usually ignored from the boss. Few are denied, and most are ignored.

There is a clear division of viewpoint. While I view the people here as customers, the office appears to only view us as a source of income. They need do nothing but the absolute basics and they have done all that is necessary. I see the residents as people with needs to whom promises were made and many of those promises have not been kept. They should not be taken away on a whim.

I am not naive. The whining will never completely come to an end. That, only the office can stop. Sometimes people need to be told to take their concerns to the person who has offended them and stop using the office as policemen. If they had to actually talk to the person with who them had the problem, some complaining would stop. Maybe the office should facilitate this. But them both in the same room.

There is little encouragement to those contributing to the life and vitality of the home. The normal answer is "NO." If you complain, the response is to create a new rule to placate the complainer and offend the majority. To me, that says the only way to get a satisfactory is to a complaint. The kitchen coordinator needs help. We can no longer have paper cups for coffee breaks. The cost is too great. Bring your own. I actually support that. But it is difficult when a guest comes. The self-appointed activities coordinator needs help. Fortunately he has friends around who help pay for many things.

I know the argument. Neither of these is helpful to everyone. True. But every complainer gets their conflict resolved — in their favor. I think its time to consider the majority. I want something to go my way. Selfish isn’t it?