Rumors
During my initial Red Cross orientation sessions, they stressed how important it was to avoid spreading rumors. Especially in a Mass Care/Sheltering environment, where the situation is fluid and people's lives are discombobulated, it is vital that only valid information be passed on. So the first thing I noticed when I got to SeaBee base is that we volunteers exchange a lot of "information." The only thing is the caliber of that info seems questionable. Here's just a small sample:
Someone stole an ERV to sell for drugs • Someone got arrested stealing a box truck loaded with supplies • Each Red Cross meal costs us $8 • Someone insisted on being an ERV driver even though none were needed, and refused to do other work. They were turned right around and sent back to the airport an hour after they arrived. • Someone got sent home for having sex in a Port-a-Potty • Because of flooding in the Northeast, they're sending volunteers from the Gulf Coast to New Jersey and New York • Someone spent all their three-week $900 cash allotment before he left home. He used part of it to get a $300 tattoo • Someone was told to withdraw all their $900 in cash, and then their wallet was stolen at the airport • Someone got a pedicure and a manicure with their Red Cross card • Someone went AWOL from SeaBee for three days and ran up $20,000 in fraudulent credit card charges • One guy at the base doesn't have any duties at all and just sleeps in his cot all day • They're shooting at Red Cross workers in New Orleans • Kitchen 7 is closing and they'll be sending their remaining people to Kitchen 35. (That last one was true.)
Someone stole an ERV to sell for drugs • Someone got arrested stealing a box truck loaded with supplies • Each Red Cross meal costs us $8 • Someone insisted on being an ERV driver even though none were needed, and refused to do other work. They were turned right around and sent back to the airport an hour after they arrived. • Someone got sent home for having sex in a Port-a-Potty • Because of flooding in the Northeast, they're sending volunteers from the Gulf Coast to New Jersey and New York • Someone spent all their three-week $900 cash allotment before he left home. He used part of it to get a $300 tattoo • Someone was told to withdraw all their $900 in cash, and then their wallet was stolen at the airport • Someone got a pedicure and a manicure with their Red Cross card • Someone went AWOL from SeaBee for three days and ran up $20,000 in fraudulent credit card charges • One guy at the base doesn't have any duties at all and just sleeps in his cot all day • They're shooting at Red Cross workers in New Orleans • Kitchen 7 is closing and they'll be sending their remaining people to Kitchen 35. (That last one was true.)