The red tape has begun its entanglement with me now. I have recently pushed the issue that I need to have some of my residual injuries checked out. For nearly a year I have just lived with them. I guess I was expected to just take the initiative and do things on my own. I mean I am a NCO after all and I am supposed to just do what I have to do right?

Wrong!

I am a wounded warrior who got injured and as a result suffers from some crazy PTSD at times. When I first got home I didn’t leave my house for nearly 3 months. I drank and self medicated myself into a stupor and dealt with my demons. I bought a car earlier last year and only have about 5000 miles on it. The math comes out to maybe 15 miles a day since I’ve had it. I usually drive into town and then right back.

Boom!

I requested my head get checked out because I was one of the lost souls in the system. Literally dropped from the active duty ranks and sent packing back to my reserve unit. They never knew I was home.

Shame!

So I went to my local MEDCOM and they made some phone calls but no one is coming back with anything concrete. I just want to be checked out. I am tired of the tremors, headaches, nightmares, sleepless nights, slurred speech, forgetfulness, etc.

Stand fast!

I expected a phone call this week. I expected one 8 months ago too. In light of the Walter Reed situation commanders are jumping out their asses to ensure they don’t get relieved. Funny thing is the same MEDCOM commander is the same one who never got back to me back then. I requested to be put back on active duty orders when I got home because I needed help!

Opps!

He looked me in the face this past week and assured me that he would take care of me. I shook his hand with a firm grip and told him that I expected nothing but the best care. However I have not heard from him in a week. I guess the bureaucracy and red tape scheme is taking affect. He is saying that Walter Reed may be backed up. So I may have to go nearly across country to get looked at.

Oh really?

This guy best find a resolution soon or I will fuck his shit up.

Pay back is a bitch when the media is in a feeding frenzy for material!

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General

I found that his whole testimony was great. This is one segment that I felt stood out the most.

“In a war,” Shannon said, “you don’t resign in the middle of a war, you continue to fight for us and admit mistakes and work to fix mistakes until you’re fired.”

- SSG John Daniel Shannon

You hit the nail on the head brother!

You can find the whole testimony here.

7 Comments
General

So here is a follow up post about my interview. I find it very disheartening and funny at the same time. I’ve changed a few things for obvious reasons.

AS,

Here’s the feedback I received. We felt that you would become easily
Frustrated with the position, since you have a QA background. From our
previous experience and your answers to some of the questions in the
interview, we felt that you would be frustrated with not being able to
“fix” the issues with the customers.

Ok this is where I raised an eyebrow and was like what the fuck? I use to make decisions that could of cost the lives of my men in war and she is saying I might get frustrated by not being able to fix an issue? Ok, what else.

The role of this position is customer service instead of correcting the issues.

I thought about this for a bit and I knew I said a few times that customer service was one of my strongest attributes about myself. In fact, being in the war taught me how to be very understanding and gave me the ability to work in diverse areas under very stressful conditions. Most times not being able to find resolution but did the best we could with what we had available. I had to live, breath and nearly die by fucking frustrating policies. Can anyone say R.O.E.?

We have hired 6 QA people for previous Sr. XX XX openings and only 1 remains. Most of these individuals left within the first 3 weeks, because the way of thinking is different between QA and XXXX support.

So I guess I would be like everyone else and just follow suit? I mean I guess all blacks are the same or all white people work the same right? Shit, all people who went to the University of Pooh Dunk all act the same right? Ever heard of giving a person a chance? I told her and it was displayed in my resume that I had a diverse background not only in QA but customer service! I made sure that I defined this in the interview, leaving no room for misinterpretation in my credentials and experience.

Hope this helps. Good luck in your job search!

XXXX XXXXX
Recruiter
XXXXXXX Inc

So that was that. I guess she felt I lacked a customer service bone in me or something. I had all the qualifications. I mean I went through 2 phone screenings and if they didn’t think I had the background they wouldn’t of had me come in for a face to face. I knew I answered their questions with pristine responses. I had never felt so confident in an interview.

Honestly, I didn’t mention once that I was a soldier nor in the war until I went in for the interview. I think I experienced my first taste of discrimination against a War Veteran. Sucks because I really wanted this position. I am not one to play the discrimination card but really, I met with 4 people that day and if one of them was against the war or had a beef, why would they hire my sorry over qualified ass? Look I don’t expect people to just hand me a position. This is a position that I was/am very qualified for. I am not an asshole, irresponsible or lacking in the customer service field. If this indeed a case of a person disliking me because of my role in our nations defense then shame on them. Karma has a strange way of coming back and biting people in the ass. If I was otherwise not qualified then so be it, maybe I am tooting my own horn. I beg to differ though.

*shrugs*

10 Comments
General

This week has been terrible for me. Nothing seems to be going in a positive direction at all. I applied and even interviewed for a position that I really wanted to get. I guess I am not the ideal candidate. It was a real kick in the nuts. I actually have more qualifications than the job asked for and yet I was told they would be pursuing other applicants. No way I kept telling myself. Did I say something wrong in the interview? The HR person is supposed to email me some feedback from the interview. Anyone connected with Software Development, let me know.

I had a meeting and it seemed like a waste of my time. The person I was meeting seemed to not understand what I was trying to convey. We were on two different wave lengths through the whole meeting.

Last year was hell week for me. So I am having some major flash backs and times where I am just completely consumed by those experiences.

My current employer are a bunch of white-collared-worried-about-myself-only types and I do not enjoy working for them anymore.

I had a phone interview for another company and it seemed like a perfect fit but the guy never called me back. What gives?

So what else could go wrong? I really don’t know.

14 Comments
General