Regarding FEMA and Hurricane Katrina

[create_destiny]

I can forgive a lot of shit. If you fuck something up and inadvertently exacerbate the suffering of thousands of people, I can forgive you. Even if people die, I can forgive you. I forgive the doctor who failed to perform a simple MRI that would have saved my sister's life and the life of her unborn child. Seriously, I forgive him. He fucked up. We all make mistakes.

But one thing I find very difficult to forgive is arrogance; the egotistical refusal to admit that you made a huge ass mistake, you dropped the fucking ball, you didn't have your shit together, you didn't recognize the enormity of the situation, you thought others had it under control, you fell asleep at the wheel, you got distracted, you had your head up your ass, etc.

I can forgive you and we can move on, salvage what we can and find a way to prevent future fuck-ups. But you need to mother fucking own up to the fact that you made a fucking mistake, you exercised poor judgement, the program you designed DID NOT WORK AS WELL AS IT SHOULD HAVE! Don't stand there and tell me everything is A-Okay. Don't insult my god-damned intelligence! Don't pass the buck onto someone else. Fucking stand up, be a god-damn man and admit that the job could have been handled a lot better. And then go about fixing it. Fix the fucking system. It's BROKEN, man! Don't stand there and tell me it's not.

Comments

amen

[substitute.livejournal.com]

I read some articles recently about an exciting! new! program! in which doctors who had made errors apologized to the patients or their survivors, honestly and fully. Not only did people generally feel less scarred by the whole experience later (on both sides), but it generally lowered the amount of money the victims demanded from insurance companies.

Re: amen

[createdestiny.livejournal.com]

You know, it's amazing. Massive waves of rage and pain can dissipate in an instant when someone admits they were wrong and simply utters the words, "I'm sorry." Of course they have to mean it and not everyone is willing to forgive, but it generally helps things tremendously. Wars could be prevented, even.

The doctor who could have saved my sister's life has not apologized to me or my family, but I forgive him just the same. There's probably a hospital policy that forbids him from apologizing.

At my work place, company policy forbids employees from saying the words "I'm sorry" if anyone hurts themselves on company property because it can be used as an admission of guilt in a court of law. I fucking hate that and will violate that policy if and when I ever get a chance. That exciting! new! program! is a wonderful idea.

Re: amen

[nameleswanderer.livejournal.com]

You are correct in the fact that most doctors won't apologize because of lawsuits. Fortunately, some states are passing "I'm sorry" laws. Arizona just did. http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special12/articles/0217sorry17.html
I don't think I have ever heard a Texan apologize before though.

Re: amen

[createdestiny.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a great idea.