October 4, 2001

• Have you ever been in a disagreement with someone and it turns out both of you have an entirely different interpretation of what's happened? (Is there any other kind of disagreement?)
  
  Wednesday I had to take an extra-strength painkiller just to get my body moving, and I was still so exhausted that my emotions felt flat. I figured this was all for the best, because we were going to talk to King County Executive Ron Sims face to face and I would be too tired to lose my temper and bite his head off. Not that I usually bite people's heads off. It is ineffective, and my mouth isn't really that large.
  
  We didn't meet with Ron Sims, but with his Assistant Executive Rod Brandon. Rod was very sympathetic to our position, but said that something -- he didn't know what -- had made Sims "intransigent" about dealing with SHARE. A number of other high-powered people are pulling for us and trying to get Sims to meet with us. They reported that Ron Sims told them he is angry at SHARE because we didn't try to work out this problem directly with him first. We went straight to the public and started trying to make him look bad.
  
  We've got copies of half-a-dozen letters we've sent since Sims first announced he was recommending not opening the shelter; in every one of those letters we asked for a meeting. Our head organizer followed up each letter with a phone call, asking to schedule a meeting. So on the face of it this sounds nuts.
  
  But what we have here is a culture clash. In Sims' world, the executives get together and hash things out between each other. In his world, our guy was supposed to call his guy and do lunch. But we're a grassroots organization. "Our guy" is a staff member who helps get us together to make plans and decisions (with help from us), does the paperwork (with help from us), carts the mats and blankets and supplies around (with help from us), and out of 30 years of experience in community organizing and shelter work makes recommendations about policy and actions -- but we have the voting power, we make the decisions. Staff is never allowed, by our organizational policy, to have a private meeting with another agency and make decisions that affect the whole organization. All meetings with another agency have to be group meetings, which any member of SHARE who wants to can attend (although we do meet ahead of time to coordinate what we will talk about, so the meeting won't be complete chaos.)
  
  To Sims, that looks like our staff person is not being up front, but is dishonestly hiding behind a bunch of homeless people. The idea that we (the homeless and formerly homeless alike) are actually making decisions and setting policy for ourselves is just out of his mental ballpark.
  
  Knowing what the problem is isn't the same as solving it. Educating folks like Ron Sims to respect homeless and formerly homeless people as decision-makers working to help each other, not just as poor huddled masses waiting to be helped, is tough. Any suggestions welcome.
  
  In the meantime, we are staying on the sidewalk and waiting to see what progress our friends make in getting Mr. Sims to talk with us. No arrests yet. All quiet on the Seattle Front.
  
  Last night I just stayed to help set up and do the first security watch, then I went home to bed and slept ten hours. After reading a bit. Nothing stops me from reading!
  
  
  

  Bookaholics Twelve-Step Program We admitted that our reading addiction was completely beyond our control. We couldn't believe that any other Power in the Universe could control it either, so we gave it up and reformed as a Book Club.

  
  Current book: The Compleat McAndrew by Charles Sheffield; short stories about an eccentric space engineer written by a scientist as an "excuse", he claims in the foreword, to putter over intellectually fascinating problems. I grew up on this kind of stuff, although I've branched out to a lot of different kinds of fiction (and non-fiction) since. I like the stories themselves. But it looks like I was wrong about the McAndrew stories being the ones I remember that included jokes about the Scientist, the Mathematician, and the Engineer. Does anyone remember stories like this?
  
  
  

  The Scientist, the Mathematician and the Engineer were kidnapped by a flying saucer, and woke to find themselves at one end of a long room with a beautiful naked woman reclining on a couch at the other end. They all hit an invisible barrier at once, trying to dash to her side. A voice came over the intercom announcing that the invisible barrier would lift at intervals, and at each interval they would be allowed to proceed half the remaining distance to the woman on the couch. The barrier then lifted, and the Engineer dashed forward. The other two sat down, though, and laughed at him. "It's Zeno's Paradox," they yelled. "Don't you understand? If each time you advance you only go half the remaining distance, you'll never get there!" "Yeah," he called back, "but sooner or later I'll get close enough!"

  
  The savageweaklink game is down to Erin_Go_Braless and me. If you haven't read Erin's log yet, do! It's lively. And if you haven't voted yet at savageweaklink, do!
  
  Erin has excellent remarks in her latest blog about widening our community. This game has been one way I've made new friends on Xanga. Hi to new subscribers disclaimer, Jadedbruja, and notallthere. Everybody grab some Virtual Chocolate and let's party!
  
  
  

  You love me, I love you, Hope you'll never be untrue, But I'll have chocolate if you do; You can count on chocolate! -- Zeke Hoskin

  • 6:47 pm
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