I’m on a low dip on the roller coaster. Please let me get that CVS job and get the hell out of the interim sites, Flying Spaghetti Monster. Please.
I tell you, my friends, about what happens at the different sites, but I don’t do it to complain – I do it to share, to observe, to shake stuff off, to (sometimes) laugh at how ridiculous things are. But complaining doesn’t change things, so I try to avoid it. I’ve mostly found that squeaky wheels deserve a kick in the pants or a good thump on the back of the head.
I have never yelled at any client at a site. I have never used a swear word in front of a kid. I’ve never whined to a PADS coordinator, and never played pick and choose to give myself extra pillows or pads – even when they were offered – because I figured others need them more than I do.
I’ve never knowingly fed another client’s paranoia – I try to dance that dangerous pirouette between being supportive and being in touch with reality.
This morning 2 women complained about locations where women sleep on the same floor as the men, instead of in a separate room or an area blocked off by room dividers. They each described thing they have been through that causes each of them to not be able to sleep in an area with men – something I’ve gone through as well, and still, I’d prefer the option of sleeping inside on a pad in a co-ed room, instead of outside.
And then tonight I returned to St Mary of Gostyn for the fourth week. And what happened? I was not around when the cards were collected, so I went down the stairs and handed in my card. The male PADS coordinator said, “Barbara R: No chairs will be allowed in the women’s area.” The first two weeks, I was allowed my chair without question – the third week, I was allowed my chair after I said I needed it to get up off the floor. And now at 6:30 when I’m more than 30 minutes away from the alternate site, I’m being told: No chairs.
Here’s the thing. I can get down onto the floor by setting my hand onto the seat of a chair and lowering myself – and I can heave myself off the floor with the help of that same chair. But without that chair, I’m going to have to ask someone to bring me a chair so that I can get up… or (presumably) not make it to the washroom… and to lie there in the morning (probably in a puddle) until someone deigns to bring me a chair. It doesn’t seem like a viable option to me, and it sucks that all of a sudden, it’s being demanded.
Nearly every site provides chairs next to the pads – and those that don’t, allow us to bring chairs from the dining area, if needed. It’s not like we’re going to joust with the chairs. Well, I’m not. So, I asked for my card back. “Don’t you want to eat here?” No. My last concern at that point was food – my first concern was shelter.
So, I tried to drive to the other location – Church of the Holy Ghost in Wood Dale, IL. I got there after 7, so no one was waiting for the lotto. I drove around the building, but saw no cars parked there, and no lit rooms with people in them. So because I need a chair to get up off the floor, I’m in a Motel 6 for the night. Other clients who were high or drunk or who got into a fight after I left – but who can get off the floor – were allowed into the site.
I guess it’s a good thing I stopped at the Credit Union for gas money.
I paid an extra $5 for super internet access, spent a couple of hours on and off and on and off and on the phone with customer support, and ended up being directed to the lobby to log in & then return to my room where – once I was logged in – the connection would work.
Really? With a Super Connection, that’s the best they can do?
So I went to the lobby and logged in and returned to the room where there SURPRISE! Was no internet access. Somehow, I think that hour plus of testing deserves more pay than my $5 refund. Plus, when I returned to the room, I realized that the a/c isn’t working. It’s a fan. Dag nab it!
Oh well, I’m going to read and try to see some stuff on my phone and charge my iPad (even though I can’t use it) and take a shower and check out at Almost Noon.
And then I’ll find a wifi connection where I can post this diary: last night’s news from the homeless at the Motel 6 in Villa Park, IL.
© 2015 sheddhead – not to be used without written consent of the author, unless quoting portions of this diary on DailyKos, with links back to the original quotation