{"id":685,"date":"2011-10-19T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2011-10-19T12:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=685"},"modified":"2012-01-25T08:10:43","modified_gmt":"2012-01-25T13:10:43","slug":"nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html","title":{"rendered":"VA Worker Rude to My 90 Year Old Dad"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>My dad is a WWII veteran. At almost 91 years of age, he thinks clearly, gets around and still manages his own home. He is a remarkable man who is also hard of hearing and needs my help to navigate his health care with the VA. His local team in his small town has been wonderful. Our family is thankful for the federal government programs that assist veterans, but dealing with the federal offices are a nightmare.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I had to call to change his account number. Someone tried to take his identity and we had to change all his accounts. It was a simple phone call that should have taken a few minutes. It took\u00a0 over an hour!<\/p>\n

The first time I called I was on hold over 20 minutes, then by the time I ran through the five prompts to get to the right person, he answered. After going through all the verifications of security, we somehow got disconnected. I about cried because I had to start all over again.<\/p>\n

I waited another 20 minutes. The person who answered was probably the most unfriendly person I’ve ever had on a phone conversation. Tanisha (she wouldn’t give me her name for the longest time) was combative and made this simple change a nightmare. She talked to my father with no respect and gave him a hard time because he couldn’t hear well and doesn’t own a computer. I explained that my role was to help him hear. I was authorized to do this.<\/p>\n

My father kept\u00a0 trying to answer her questions and she became annoyed with him because he couldn’t hear well. She would answer with YES or NO and then say nothing. I had to keep asking, is there more we need to do. Finally before I hung up, she told me to download a form and send it to the VA. “Any particular address”, I asked? The VA is a large system. Acting like I was an idiot, she didn’t give me the address and told me I should know where my regional VA was located.<\/p>\n

If Tanisha worked in the private sector, she would be fired. Her rudeness and unwillingness to help do what she was hired to do was out of line. If I had not advocated for my dad, he would have hung up in frustration. And not all vets have family advocates. But what really got me was her lack of respect for my father who was trying his best to answer her questions. She was downright rude to him.<\/p>\n

Tanisha, you have your job because my dad fought a war that secured your freedom. Next time you talk to a vet, try to remember that he isn’t your enemy. Do your job and show a little compassion. And if you are having a bad day, don’t take it out on the men and women who served our country!<\/p>\n

P.S. Mr. Obama–this is why federal health care would be a nightmare!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My dad is a WWII veteran. At almost 91 years of age, he thinks clearly, gets around and still manages his own home. He is a remarkable man who is also hard of hearing and needs my help to navigate his health care with the VA. His local team in his small town has been…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[480,475,208,476,477,478,473,474,479],"class_list":["post-685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-advocacy-for-vets","tag-benefits","tag-family-2","tag-federal","tag-governement","tag-health-care","tag-va","tag-veterans","tag-wwii"],"yoast_head":"\nVA Worker Rude to My 90 Year Old Dad<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA Worker Rude to My 90 Year Old Dad\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My dad is a WWII veteran. At almost 91 years of age, he thinks clearly, gets around and still manages his own home. He is a remarkable man who is also hard of hearing and needs my help to navigate his health care with the VA. His local team in his small town has been…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-19T12:00:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-01-25T13:10:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2011\/10\/va_seal_logo-300x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"VA Worker Rude to My 90 Year Old Dad","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"VA Worker Rude to My 90 Year Old Dad","og_description":"My dad is a WWII veteran. At almost 91 years of age, he thinks clearly, gets around and still manages his own home. He is a remarkable man who is also hard of hearing and needs my help to navigate his health care with the VA. His local team in his small town has been…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2011-10-19T12:00:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-01-25T13:10:43+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2011\/10\/va_seal_logo-300x300.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html","name":"VA Worker Rude to My 90 Year Old Dad","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2011\/10\/va_seal_logo-300x300.jpg","datePublished":"2011-10-19T12:00:01+00:00","dateModified":"2012-01-25T13:10:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2011\/10\/va_seal_logo-300x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2011\/10\/va_seal_logo-300x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/nightmare-navigation-of-the-va-system.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"VA Worker Rude to My 90 Year Old Dad"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1478,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685\/revisions\/1478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}