Nothing if not interesting...

I did hear back from Fluffy Jr.

She is one of those people who thinks she is really wonderful at communicating but isn't. She thinks she's really smart, despite people having caught on to her nasty little games and calling her on them.

Her written sentences are sort of coherent, but the whole piece doesn't flow. She segues from topic to topic and then back. Reading what she sends isn't easy, I had to read it four times before I figured it all out.

She started off being pissed that I hadn't asked questions before now.
Apparently she doesn't like ME waiting until the last minute, but it's perfectly acceptable for her to do it. I refrained from asking her how SHE likes being strung along and not knowing how things are going to work. How she likes not being a priority.

She gave me some song and dance about how I was chosen especially for the two units she assigned me. Sure I was.

It's really more like this...

Fluffy: You know, we probably should let some of our staff do the nit-picky work of filling in the blanks on activity plans. So they think they have some choice.
Fluffy Jr: Oh Fluffy! You're so SMART!!!! You have the BEST IDEAS!!!!

I assured her that I've been immersed in the material for a couple weeks (true) and that I'd get it done quickly. (Also true. It's not difficult.)

Then, I asked "Can you explain why we are segregating children by age this summer?"

No answer so far. Not that I'm surprised.

Our summer location is the tail end of the digestive system of the school district. It's a sphincter of a place... an OLD school, crumbling and falling apart. Our program for summer is located in the basement of the building. But not an underground basement... two sides are exposed to direct sunlight for most of the day. So it's a hot and dusty asshole. No AC, crappy ventilation, dust and dust and dust... can't get the place clean no matter what.

Sunshine has worked there with us the last few summers, but every summer she spends a great deal of time in the ER or at the doctor for nebulizer treatments. She has serious asthma, and it's not a good place for her. We have had a couple kids who have experienced flare ups in their asthma while attending summer, too.

It's a crappy location. There are stairs, which is difficult for me, of course. The ramp that leads down into the cafeteria is so steep that it's unsafe for wheelchair use. Anyone who uses a wheelchair must enter at the other end of the building and use the elevator to get to the basement.

There are a couple other choices of locations, but not really.

One of the locations, where we were a few years ago, and have been more than once has a custodian who really is a complete dick. He emigrated from Russia about 15 years ago, and the school district not only employs him, it employs his family members and various friends from the same group.

He comes in the early morning, waves his badge in front of the little window to show he's there, then he and his cohorts get back in their cars and go out for breakfast. They come back about noon, run the vacuum in the hallway, replace a roll of paper towels and check the mailbox, then they go out to lunch. They come back about 5 and wave their badges in front of the little electronic thing to show they're leaving after 'working all day'. Good work if you can find it, I guess.

The last summer we were there, he didn't do a THING for most of the summer. Then, two weeks before school was to start, he freaked out and started yelling at us for being in his way while he needed to paint and clean floors and do this and do that. He was pretty pissy. One of the large, walk-in refrigerators melted down that summer. It was not the fridge we were using, we were using the one at the other end of the kitchen.

The melted down fridge had ice cream bars and popsicles in it, left over from the end-of-school year parties in various classrooms. When the melt happened, the stuff melted all over the inside on the floor of the fridge. He confronted Sunshine about it and she refused to clean it up or have any of us clean it. This did not make the Mad Russian very happy. He pitched a screaming fit, ending with smashing a trash cart against the wall and calling Sunshine a bad name.

She retaliated by telling the principal of the school about how Alexander hadn't done a damn thing all summer. The principal of that school had been the principal at Sunshine's school for six years, so they're well acquainted. Alexander got in a lot of trouble for being a lazy asshole who gets paid to fuck off all summer... and now when our "manager" tries to arrange the use of that particular school, he pitches a fit.

So we're relegated to the asshole of our schools.
And today, Sunshine's doctor told her that she is not allowed to work in that school for summer break.

Carey, who I've worked with for years... this is her site, by the way, was offered a very small amount of hours for summer. A very insulting amount.

No reason except that Fluffy and her minions are nasty and mean and don't care that Carey supports her family on what she earns. Carey is nice to the kids, dedicated to the job and worth more than they pay her. She's been shit on by work comp, too. And is one of the people making less than new hires. She just keeps doing her job.

She's going to try to find a summer job where she can get a decent number of hours. Apparently (gosh, I can't understand WHY) she doesn't want to be homeless?

I see my doctor in about 12 hours. Results of MRI etc. I would much rather be sliced and diced and in enormous pain for half the summer than work with those shitty people. There just aren't even words to express how much I hate them and how furious I am at the crappy way we've been treated and the stupid asshole things they've done to us and to our programs.

There are parents in my program who don't like her. They tell me about calling her regarding billing issues or other things and say that she's sort of odd. That she somehow tries to blame THEM when things aren't going right. "She turns things around and tries to make me feel like I'm the one with a problem."

Let me tell you, it's difficult to smile and nod and NOT say, "Oh I hear ya, she's a bitch and I hate her."

I hand them the business cards for the big fish, refrain from a sardonic laugh as I say, "Give this guy a call, he can probably help you," and man is it ever hard to not say something like, "You ain't seen nothin' yet, she wants to fuck up ALL our programs! Look for a whole new bunch of shit this fall!!"

So Carey is looking for a summer job somewhere else, she can't afford to lose the hours they've taken from her for no good reason. Sunshine can't work for medical reasons. If I need surgery, I won't be there. And that, people, is the entire powerhouse team in our area. We have built our programs into what they are over the course of years. Being the reliable and amazing team we are.

And in one short 9 month period, they've wrecked it so much that it's not even recognizable as the same group and program.

They've worked hard to turn summer into summer school and will be working hard to turn our programs into classrooms starting this fall.

If the three of us aren't there over summer, it definitely won't be the same for the kids. And that makes me sad, they deserve better.

The decision was made to not offer the flexibility in scheduling this year, too. Instead of being able to choose only the days they need care, families are being told it's x amount PER WEEK and there are no other choices.

So the kids belonging to firefighters, police officers, nurses etc... who don't need care all week, just a few days on a rotating schedule... will not be taken care of. Their parents are scrambling to find different care for summer, and very sad to have to do so. Some of those kids have been with us four or five years.

So I suppose the next step is the appointment with my podiatrist in the morning.
It's just totally fucked up that I'm hoping he says I need surgery.