Accountability
Jan 29, 2009 | Filed in Life | 2 Comments
A 93-year-old Michigan man froze to death in his home after falling behind with his electric bill.
Instead of issuing an apology, the manager of the utility company, Robert Belleman, said:
- “Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors. When they think there’s something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department.”
You’ve got to be kidding to me. Do corporations not care at all anymore? The poor man was left without electricity in freezing temperatures and the utility company is blaming the neighbors?
Maddening. Pure and simple.
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Yes, that comment by the utility company is shameful. And yes, the practice of turning off the power without proper notification is horrible.
But what about this guy’s nephew, living in sunny Florida? His elderly uncle was a widower with no kids. Why wasn’t the nephew at least phoning his uncle every day in that nasty cold weather, to check on him? How about calling a neighbor to do a well-being check? How about arranging for some senior services for the uncle, who was apparently suffering from dementia?
Obviously I don’t have all the facts, but based on the attached story, I am most outraged at this nephew!!!!
I’ve read other articles about the death to learn more, and it seems the nephew didn’t have a close relationship with his uncle. So it wasn’t surprising to hear that the nephew didn’t keep in touch.
They also haven’t confirmed he had dementia, it was just a theory being investigated.
So all indications seem to point to him being in fairly stable health, at least good enough to live alone without a caretaker.