Angels and Demons
This has been a particularly hard year for EVERYONE financially and I am no exception. While I am SO thankful for my job and certainly have way more than others in this topsy-turvy world, it has been difficult comparatively speaking. So when Jared told me he gets Christmas leave I was ecstatic! Because he is set to deploy sometime after the first of the year and I did not want him deploying without a chance to see him over the holidays. I called my ex-husband and we began a search for plane tickets that we can afford. Despite everyone's best efforts at pointing me to (hopefully) better fares, nothing was working out. My ex doesn't work and his poor wife ends up paying for everything on their end. Well, she's been hit by the economy as well and her annual income was reduced by $20,000 this week. Yikes! Well, I'm not too proud to ask for help when it comes to my children, so I thought maybe someone out there might have some extra flight points they'd be willing to share and I posted this on craigslist:
"My son is currently serving at Ft. Lewis, Washington. He gets leave from December 22 to January 4 and I desperately want to get him home for Christmas. He is set to deploy some time this spring and I may not get to see him again before he goes. I just don't have the money for a plane ticket and wondered if anyone has some points or other discounts that could help. I can provide full documentation of his status. Thanks for thinking of us."
Well, I got a response almost immediately from "comsolfrank@aol.com" that said to have Jared's Commanding officer contact him. It was very short and I don't know anything about him, so I wasn't real comfortable about having Jared's CO involved at this point, so I sent the following response:
"Would you be willing to call me first at my office today? I'm Tracey Duncan and my number is XXX_XXX_XXXX. My son does not know I am asking anyone for help and I think he'd be embarrassed for me to call his CO. I have a friend who is a General in the Army who can vouch for me if a reference is the need. I also have a copy of his orders. Thank you for your interest in helping us!"
I then received this response from him: "This not (sic) Burger King." Um, excuse me?
I emailed him back and said, "Which means what? While I appreciate your willingness to help, I don't think that helping someone gives you the right to treat them poorly. I have given you my number if you truly want to help. If not, then thank you for your time."
He responded, "I am not treating you poorly. I am being direct and I am telling you what I will do and how I will do it.
I apologize for any confusion but I can only transmit short bursts on the Blackberry.
1. I will remain anonymous, therefore I will not communicate directly with you or your son.
2. Your son's commander's job is to help his/her soldiers. They will be thrilled to help me do this(this is not my first time). No offense, but it also assures me my resources are being used as advertised(this is not my first time).
3. If we proceed your role in this will be to shop for the ticket, put a hold reservation on it and communicate the particulars to me. I will pay the airline directly. The airline will send me the ticket and I will send it to the CO"
I was still uncomfortable with the whole thing so I sent the following: "Thank you, sir, for clarifying your position. I truly do appreciate your generosity, but I'm afraid that I'm not comfortable with the arrangements. I respectfully disagree that telling someone "this not (sic) Burger King" is, in fact, treating them poorly."
He then sent this: "Many people are offended when they don't get what they want. The Burger King reference is an old joke, "you don't get it your way, you get it my way or you don't get". You obviosly don't get it, soooooooo you don't get it.
PS. my real name is "All eye" I'll see you at the fair.........good luck"
Well, being a redhead from Texas that just about put the icing on the cake for me, so I responded with this:
"No, YOU obviously don't get it. I feel sorry for you. Do not send me another email. And if you send anything else to me that sounds vaguely threatening, like the "all eye" thing and "see you at the fair", I will be utilizing my own resources to determine your identity, which for some reason you feel is so important to veil."
Now - was I overreacting, or was that just too weird and offensive? I really would love your take on this.
NOW THE ANGELS PART:
In the midst of all this craziness, I received an email from a lovely young woman named Crystal who travels frequently on her job. She said she had plenty of points and would "be honored" to fly my son home for Christmas. She has already purchased him a round-trip ticket and he's all set to come home. There are truly still angels in the world!
"My son is currently serving at Ft. Lewis, Washington. He gets leave from December 22 to January 4 and I desperately want to get him home for Christmas. He is set to deploy some time this spring and I may not get to see him again before he goes. I just don't have the money for a plane ticket and wondered if anyone has some points or other discounts that could help. I can provide full documentation of his status. Thanks for thinking of us."
Well, I got a response almost immediately from "comsolfrank@aol.com" that said to have Jared's Commanding officer contact him. It was very short and I don't know anything about him, so I wasn't real comfortable about having Jared's CO involved at this point, so I sent the following response:
"Would you be willing to call me first at my office today? I'm Tracey Duncan and my number is XXX_XXX_XXXX. My son does not know I am asking anyone for help and I think he'd be embarrassed for me to call his CO. I have a friend who is a General in the Army who can vouch for me if a reference is the need. I also have a copy of his orders. Thank you for your interest in helping us!"
I then received this response from him: "This not (sic) Burger King." Um, excuse me?
I emailed him back and said, "Which means what? While I appreciate your willingness to help, I don't think that helping someone gives you the right to treat them poorly. I have given you my number if you truly want to help. If not, then thank you for your time."
He responded, "I am not treating you poorly. I am being direct and I am telling you what I will do and how I will do it.
I apologize for any confusion but I can only transmit short bursts on the Blackberry.
1. I will remain anonymous, therefore I will not communicate directly with you or your son.
2. Your son's commander's job is to help his/her soldiers. They will be thrilled to help me do this(this is not my first time). No offense, but it also assures me my resources are being used as advertised(this is not my first time).
3. If we proceed your role in this will be to shop for the ticket, put a hold reservation on it and communicate the particulars to me. I will pay the airline directly. The airline will send me the ticket and I will send it to the CO"
I was still uncomfortable with the whole thing so I sent the following: "Thank you, sir, for clarifying your position. I truly do appreciate your generosity, but I'm afraid that I'm not comfortable with the arrangements. I respectfully disagree that telling someone "this not (sic) Burger King" is, in fact, treating them poorly."
He then sent this: "Many people are offended when they don't get what they want. The Burger King reference is an old joke, "you don't get it your way, you get it my way or you don't get". You obviosly don't get it, soooooooo you don't get it.
PS. my real name is "All eye" I'll see you at the fair.........good luck"
Well, being a redhead from Texas that just about put the icing on the cake for me, so I responded with this:
"No, YOU obviously don't get it. I feel sorry for you. Do not send me another email. And if you send anything else to me that sounds vaguely threatening, like the "all eye" thing and "see you at the fair", I will be utilizing my own resources to determine your identity, which for some reason you feel is so important to veil."
Now - was I overreacting, or was that just too weird and offensive? I really would love your take on this.
NOW THE ANGELS PART:
In the midst of all this craziness, I received an email from a lovely young woman named Crystal who travels frequently on her job. She said she had plenty of points and would "be honored" to fly my son home for Christmas. She has already purchased him a round-trip ticket and he's all set to come home. There are truly still angels in the world!