Sunday, April 24, 2011
Monday, November 2, 2009
Chase Bank Sucks
Chase Bank Sucks
Customer Hell
Does anyone who was born before the seventies lament the lack of customer service in the world today. I will pay extra for good customer service and it is truly a lost art. That is why, when I returned from Central America and found Washington Mutual I was happy. They actually had good customer service. They cared when you were in crisis and needed their help.
Well, as we all know, WAMU is no longer with us and has been replaced by that behemoth Chase. A few days ago they changed their system to Chase permanently and all signs of WAMU were lost. Take what happened to me today for example.
I deposited my check from my job as a teacher. I get paid once a month so it is rather a large sum and I am going through a divorce and I recently changed checking accounts. So, for about two months I have been stuck in the cycle of waiting on my paychecks in the mail and then depositing them in the branch.
Today, my check came and I took it to the bank to deposit it. I have done this in one form or fashion for the last seven years. It is a government check and I realize that that is not saying much these days. I deposited it and the first thing that I noticed was that there was no balance on the receipt. That should have caused me to pause, but I was in a hurry. I went and took care of some business in Los Angeles and was headed to sit and have dinner with two friends when I decided that I should get some cash. I bought a car recently, so I was low on cash before my deposit. I put my card into the ATM at Chase in downtown Los Angeles and it said insufficient funds.
I immediately called Chase customer service. Now, if something like this had happened before with WAMU, it would have been fixed before I hung up the phone. However, Chase’s customer service people have a script and no matter how often you call them they give you the same patronizing corporate dribble.
The minions at Chase told me that there was nothing they could do for me and—one of them even said this—“we are not Washington Mutual anymore.” I spoke with a supervisor, whom I told, that I only needed a little cash available for the night and she gave me the same dribble.
I admit that by this time I was very peeved and my tone was not as professional as I would like, however, what horrible service. A customer—7 years—asks you to make a slight concession and you can only spout scripted baloney to them. Customer service means that sometimes you have to think outside of the box. Chase is so wrapped up in the box that their employees are like robots.
It’s a shame that WAMU had to disappear, but you would think that Chase would understand that customer service was why many of us went to WAMU in the first place. I would rather have the customer service people in India, who at least try to be friendly and accommodating than those at Chase whose brains have been taken out and replaced with sound bites. I’ll be changing banks this week. I’m looking for service and the smile.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Blurring the lines between church and state
Blurring the lines between church and state
Sphere: Related Content
Keep Church and State separate
Coach Scott Mooney of Breckinridge County High School in Louisville, KY took a group of football players on field trip to a church where a revival was going on and several of them were baptized without their parents’ permission. School Superintendent Janet Meeks was at that service. One mother was angered because her husband is Catholic and she is Baptist and they wanted to be a part of this decision with their son.
Meeks says that none of the students were coerced or forced into going to the service and that parents were told about it. She also said that it did not violate rules against separation of church and state because the gas for the bus was paid for by another coach. The pastor at the church said that about nine players came down to be baptized however none of them were manipulated into coming down.
Now anyone who has ever been to a revival knows that the whole process is manipulative and anyone who has ever played on a sports team knows the power of a coaches words to his/her players. So the pastor is a blatant liar because revivals are inherently manipulative because of the stories told and the music used and team sports, especially, football are coercive by their very nature.
Now we hear that a new law in the state of Texas requires teachers to teach bible literacy. Now, as a literature teacher, I find this an interesting proposition since most of our early American Literature was based on religion and bible beliefs. However, the State of Texas has required teacher to do this without giving them training or telling them how to do it to keep it religion neutral.
Texas has just opened the door for proselytizing by teachers with religious agendas. They have also broken their own laws by not training teachers to do the job they have given them to do. The program also lacks funding. This means that how to teach this material is left to individual teachers. Can you see the lines between church and state being blurred?
People have the right to believe what they want. The problem arises with forcing students to read a book they may not believe in. That goes against the Constitution of the United States. It also offers the opportunity for teachers with extreme beliefs to ingrain those beliefs in the minds of impressionable students without the consent of those students’ parents. Does this concern anyone else?
How do parents who do not believe in the bible guard against their children becoming indoctrinated with unwanted religious ideas? How do we guard against those who would indoctrinate children with their brand of radicalism or hate that they believe that the bible sanctions?
President Barack Obama took a lot of criticism for just asking kids to pay attention and stay in school. Yet, no one is screaming about this? I don’t believe in religion. I think that it has caused or been the catalyst for most of the world’s atrocities. As a literature teacher, I find it an interesting idea of teaching the bible as part of the literary experience. The problem I have is how do you keep your individual beliefs from being forced on the young minds before you? It is almost impossible.
Support Healthcare now
Support Healthcare now
Stop the rhetoric
I heard about this charity called Remote Access Medical (RAM). Generally, RAM, drops medical supplies and medical teams into remote areas and treats people who may need it in countries like Haiti, Somalia, or Guyana. However, just last week, RAM was in Inglewood, CA at the Inglewood Forum helping people who lack health care. Many of the people lined up at 4 p.m. and were still there at midnight.
The stories were amazing. One little girl had to skip school so that she could go get glasses. When her father was asked about the alternative, he said, “She just wouldn’t get glasses.” Another gentleman who suffers from constant pain said that if he had not gone to the Forum, he would have had to suffer. Now many of these people were uninsured, but the vast majority of them were people with healthcare who could not afford their premiums or had inadequate coverage. Many were minorities, but a large number were Caucasian. Many were unemployed, but the vast majority hard working people.
The director of the program was appalled because he said that he should be in a third world country and not in downtown Los Angeles. I am amazed that most Americans do not agree. How horrid is it that hard working Americans have to go to a charity for basic health care, for dental care, and to have an eye exam. These seemingly intelligent people listen to the rhetoric of people like Sarah Palin who talks about death panels for seniors, they fail to see that the same representatives who jumped on this band wagon about death panels voted for the same language in a 2003 Medicare bill that was passed. Sen. Charles Grassley, of Iowa, who is one of the biggest opponents of health care reform voted for this bill which allowed seniors who were terminally ill to receive end-of-life counseling.
The question is one of equity. America is the richest country in the world, yet we have millions of children who go to bed each night hungry. One of the people at the RAM event said that she was afraid that she could be having a heart attack and not be able to call an ambulance because she would have to pay a large bill later. America is the richest country in the world and yet we have a large homeless population, many of which are children.
Christians are required to tithe 10% of their salary to the church to provide for those who give them spiritual “food”. This is an organization whose mandate, according to the Isaiah 58 is to care for those who can not care for themselves. My question to the church is where is the money? Why are you not taking care of the people in Inglewood? Why are you not taking these homeless people into your sanctuaries and feeding and clothing them? Why do you refuse to care for the infirmed?
Instead you preach hate, you preach intolerance, and you preach rhetoric while you fill you coffers.
RAM is doing what those in the church are supposed to be doing. Yet, we as a nation have the opportunity to do something great and take care of those who need a little help caring for themselves. Grow up America and support health care.
Watch 60 mins. About RAM in Tennessee
Comparison: Who is more like Hitler--George Bush or Barack Obama
Comparison: Who is more like Hitler--George Bush or Barack Obama
George Bush's Legacy
Racism abounds in America and a black president has just brought out the redneck in people. People have compared him to Adolph Hitler. However, the question must be asked, who is more like Hitler: Barack Obama or George Bush? Lets compare shall we?
George Bush started a war in Iraq under false pretenses. Reports range from 100,000-1.2 million Iraqis killed so far. However, no on knows for a fact because according to one American General Tommy Franks, “We don’t do body counts.” Obama wants to give all Americans health care and to make sure that our economy recovers. George Bush arrested, humiliated, and tortured men who had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden or September 11th. Obama has been working to close Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
George Bush took away liberties and invaded our privacy more than any President since the McCarthy era, however, Obama is being called Hitler because he wants to fix health care in this country. Hitler killed 11 million people. Six million of those people were Jewish, but many others were gay, gypsies, or people who did not fit into Hitler’s master race plans. He sounds a bit like a Republican to me. George Bush allowed people to be tortured as part of his War on Terror. He imprisoned thousands and then used techniques that made them hate Americans. We are less safe as a nation because of George Bush.
George Bush waited while thousands of Americans died and suffered in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He praised his FEMA director who did nothing as the people died and the levees overflowed. Maybe, it was not important that most of these people were poor and African American.
George Bush had a private firm that Vice President Dick Cheney hired to assassinate the enemy. The problem is that this private firm is more like Hitler’s Gestapo and they believe in Christian Supremacy and that all Muslims should die. The owner of Xe/Blackwater is now being accused of murdering informants against his operation, running a child prostitute ring, and wife swapping among his top executives. Hitler had a lot of the same things going on in Nazi Germany.
What does the right say about Barack Obama? He is a socialist. He wants to change our way of life. He is muslim. He was not born in the United States. All of this hides a racist countries insecurity over having a black President.
The fact is that George Bush was the worst American President ever. He did more to damage American relations with other nations that Obama could undo in two terms. He murdered innocents, tortured people, and allowed people to die because of his political ideology. Maybe we should put the Hitler mustache on him.
Churches do your job!!!
Churches do your job!!!
People are dying
Pastor Steven Anderson of Arizona has a prayer that he says to God every day. That prayer is that President Barack Obama will die or be killed. One of his parishioners was the man who carried a loaded rifle outside of an Obama appearance in Arizona a few weeks ago. Anderson believes in the bible, but I am not sure which bible it is since the one that most Christians read is clear that believers should pray for the well being of their leaders and for their wisdom. However, a black president seems to bring out the worst in the faithful. It is obvious that Pastor Anderson does not read the bible because if he did he would not be praying for the death of another man.
Wednesday night I took part in a vigil for healthcare reform. There were about 150 people there. Most of them were pro-healthcare reform. There were six or seven people who were against healthcare reform and they were the most vocal people at this candle light vigil. They carried signs that disparaged President Barack Obama. Most of them called the idea of single-payer health care a socialist idea. Most of them spouted rhetoric—saying the same things over and over. They were aggressively pushing people and yelling in their faces. In another event in Thousand Oaks, CA, the violence escalated and one man had his pinky finger bitten off and had to rushed to the hospital.
The highlight of my night though was talking to a younger man who was basically saying the same things again and again. I asked him if he was Christian and he said yes. My next question to him was what was the solution for those who did not have health insurance? His answer was, “Get a skill and get a job.” With that, I asked him did he know that it was the church’s responsibility to care for the sick, the poor and the needy. His answer, “Says who?” The simple answer, “The Bible.” After a while, he just disappeared.
It became obvious that he doesn’t read the bible after a couple minutes of conversation because if he did, he would know that countless passages in bible from the old testament to the new testament direct those who believe to be the safety-net if you will--for those who cannot care for themselves. It is the theme of the entire Book of Ruth. Jesus said and taught that believers who did not do that were not even welcomed in the Kingdom.
So the question is where does the virulent hate come from? Why is it that those who are charged with caring for the poor are so adamant against legislation that would protect them? What happens to the money that big-time religion gets from its parishioners? It goes to building large sanctuaries and supporting political platforms based in hate because the faithful sit in pews and listen to rhetoric without questioning its veracity.
The fact is that the first church practiced a form of socialism. People sold land and brought there earnings and food and shared it in common with others because of the political climate of the day. I have heard this explained away in several ways. The first way is that the first church was not a government, however, it was a governing body and it used what was given to it as it saw fit. I have heard it said that under socialism there is no ownership of property, well the first Christians gave up their ownership of their property for the common good of their brothers and sisters.
The truth is that most of those who believe never read the book they say leads them or listen to and believe the politics of the right and deny the basic doctrines of their beliefs. They sit in churches and are spoon fed rhetoric which they take to the streets as the truth. They become an army for their leaders’ political agendas. They spread this vitriol without ever thinking about the logic. They do not question their leaders or their leaders’ doctrine.
There are a few for whom this will never change, but my problem is with those who know better and refuse to stand up to the hate. I have been proud to call many of these people my friends for years and now it is time for them to stand up for what is right. Most right-wing doctrine is based in the racism of the 50s and 60s. People are dying. Stop the rhetoric and look at the facts. It is your job to care for the sick, the needy, the widows, the orphans, prisoners and anyone else who cannot take care of themselves. Do your job.
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