Before You Praise or Bitch,
Check Who’s Responsible
I have a small request.
Before you congratulate someone for solving a problem, or publicly demand their resignation for failing to solve it, please check whether the issue belongs to their office.
City. County. State. Federal.
Defense Department. VA. Another agency entirely.
Nonprofit. Benefits representative. Independent advocate with a website.
These are different entities with different responsibilities.
They do not share one enormous customer service desk labeled “All Problems, Everywhere.”
Although, based on some comment sections, several people believe that desk exists and Kate is deliberately refusing to answer the phone.
“The Government” Is Not One Person
Your city council member, county official, state legislator, and member of Congress have different jobs.
Even within the same level of government, different offices handle different matters.
An official may be able to help you find the right contact without having authority to change the decision.
Jurisdiction is the question of who has the authority and responsibility to act.
It matters.
Demanding that the wrong office fix your problem is like marching into a bakery and insisting they replace your transmission.
You may have a legitimate complaint. You are still surrounded by muffins.
Military-Related Does Not Automatically Mean VA
Someone served in the military. Therefore, every problem involving that person must belong to the VA.
That appears to be a popular theory.
It is also an excellent way to get transferred.
Depending on the issue, the responsible entity might be the War Department, VA, another federal agency, a state office, or a local department.
Start with what you need:
An application update?
A record corrected?
A decision reviewed?
A policy changed?
Financial assistance?
“It involves a veteran” describes the person. It does not identify the responsible office.
A flag in the lobby is not a jurisdictional map.
Who Wrote the Rule? Who Applied It?
Sometimes the office giving you an answer is implementing a requirement established elsewhere.
The employee answering the phone may not be able to waive it, rewrite it, or make a special exception because you have reached the advanced stages of being fed up.
I understand those stages. I have earned several merit badges.
But we need to identify the actual problem.
Is it the law? An agency policy? A processing delay? A mistake in your individual record?
Different problems need different remedies.
If someone applied a rule incorrectly, challenge the error. If the rule itself needs changing, identify who has authority to change it.
Otherwise, you can spend three hours demanding legislative reform from someone whose authority ends at resetting your portal password.
Making an Inquiry Is Not Approving Your Claim
An elected official’s staff may help contact an agency or request information.
That assistance can be valuable.
It does not necessarily give them authority to approve your application, reverse a decision, or guarantee an outcome.
Likewise, an advocate may understand a process without having access to its records.
Knowing how something works is different from controlling it.
I know how my washing machine is supposed to work.
It continues to have independent political views about the spin cycle.
Please distinguish between someone helping you navigate the system and someone authorized to make the decision.
Nonprofits Are Not Interchangeable
Now, about the advice to “just contact a military nonprofit.”
Which one?
For what?
Who qualifies?
Some organizations focus on employment. Others provide housing assistance, caregiver support, emergency funding, or services for specific groups of veterans and surviving families.
They do not all provide the same help because their websites contain an eagle.
Patriotic graphics are not a program description.
Before recommending an organization, check its services, eligibility, geographic limits, and current availability.
Sending someone to an unsuitable program may give them another form to complete and another rejection to absorb.
We should aim higher than a paperwork subscription nobody ordered.
Praise Also Needs Fact-Checking
This applies to applause too.
Sharing a grant announcement is useful. It does not automatically mean the person sharing it created the program, funded it, evaluated the applications, and personally installed the office printer.
Give credit for what they actually did.
If an official helped secure funding, recognize that. If staff and partner organizations delivered the services, recognize them too.
Standing nearest the microphone does not establish ownership of the accomplishment.
Somewhere behind that announcement may be a person with forty-seven spreadsheets who would appreciate being remembered.
Possibly with lunch.
“Not Our Department” Needs a Better Follow-Up
I understand that offices have limits. They should explain them.
But when possible, “we do not handle that” should be followed by useful information about who does.
People need a direction, a contact, or a clearly explained next step.
They do not need to become the ball in a government game of telephone tennis.
And when several offices share responsibility, each should explain its part.
Shared jurisdiction should mean coordination.
It should not mean everyone points at everyone else until the applicant quietly ages into a different eligibility category.
*Exception: it is something completely off the wall that you have no idea who, what or where this might be handled! yep I worked customer service/tech support and got off the wall stuff all the time. Got a call one time: screaming at me for a system that would not boot when the electric was not working for most of the city in another state (during a Hurricane). I did suggest that they start with the power company then call back if it was still an issue after the power/over head lights turned back on.
Aim Before You Post
Before praising, condemning, tagging, or composing your fourth paragraph in capital letters, ask:
What exactly happened?
Which program or process is involved?
Who has authority over the relevant decision?
What did this particular person or organization actually do?
You do not need a law degree to ask those questions.
You need a little patience and a willingness to investigate before launching the verbal fireworks.
Criticism is useful when it reaches the right target. Accurate praise helps people understand what worked.
Before you praise or bitch, check who is responsible.
Your frustration may be justified. Your gratitude may be deserved.
Please give both the correct address.
