#4 Bureaucracy

Hi guys,

Red Cross called this morning. It was a very polite nurse wanting to know about some of the information I filled out in my application. Why I felt that I couldn't lift 50 lbs repeatedly, and what did I mean when I wrote that I was a, "very small woman"?

I told him That at 5'3", 50 lbs was half of my total body weight, and no....I am not a "little person". I guessed that is what he must have been thinking from the ever-so-delicate tone of his voice when he asked the question. He apparently had so much to do that he didn't read further down the application, which would have told him that my stats are 5' 3" 100 lbs, 49 years old...lol

As he started to quiz me more on it. I took a deep breath and said to him, "look, I'm small, I'm old, I am not phisically overwhelming...to say the least. I speak a whole bunch of foreign languages. Some of them really well. I am a business owner and a manager of a lot of complex annoying stuff.

Perhaps it could be a waste of resources to have me hauling sacks of potatoes, as I will undoubtedly be really really bad at it". Again, if anyone had read further, they would have seen that info too.

Message to me...they are swamped. Overwhelmed. Over their heads . Me and a whole raft of others have just agreed to jump in and make my life and theirs a lot more discombobulated......sigh..... As Calvin and Hobbes used to say: "Kawabunga"

To underscore this, not 10 minutes after I had hung up with him, the Red Cross called again. This time it was a very nice young lady wondering if I would like to sign up for some classes if I plan on being a volunteer?

She was calling regarding my signing up a week previously. When I didn't hear back from them after two days, I drove down and registered. Figured it would be faster than waiting for them to call me. So it was. Told her that I had already taken two, and was going for the third on Wednsday, but thanks for the call.

Alll of this happened while I was sitting out at one of the local cafe's here in Topanga, waiting for our local Doc, Doug Roy to maybe have room in his busy schedule to give me my required tetanus shot. Known Doug forever.

When I told him why I wanted it, his brow knitted, his head lowered, and he immediately began fulminating....... and writing. Turns out one of his many interest is disaster medicine. By the time he was done scribbling things down and talking a mile a minute on what I should get, who I should call, what I should do, (this has been most of my friend's and family's reaction by the way), he had me scheduled up for every non-or-semi experimental inoculation currently available now or ever, including Dengue Fever.

Woof! Took me a while to talk him off of the ledge. Explained that for all I know, I might get sent to Chicago, and that despite the possibility that I might contract ebola, I think I was going to wait on the other shots, and stick,(no pun intended...youch!) with just the tetanus for now. Kinda made me think though.

Oh..almost forgot, The Red Cross nurse...RC caller #1..... decided after speaking with me that I would best serve their needs by being in their Family Services department. He was really happy to hear that I spoke more than english, and that they would be able to do something with me. Me too.

That means I will probably be evaluating people for intake, determining their needs and placement. At least that's how he explained it. Guess I will wait to see if he proves to be correct.

Sounds like a lot of responsibility. I will try to do a good job. He asked if he could, " place a big sticker on my application to that effect?" I now have a big sticker on my application to that effect.

Take care,

Lisa