MY LETTER TO MULTI-CITY MOVING COMPANY

Unethical business practices have been going on for centuries.

Today, consumers are supposedly 'protected' from these unethical practices, except when they are not, as was in my case.
The 'fine print' not only absolves these rogues from their responsibilities, but also allows them to be as unscrupulous in their business practice(s), as they wish.

I have come across many such practices in my life, both in Africa and in Canada.
One, that most recently affected me, was my move from Ontario to Nova Scotia with Multi-City Moving.

I had a lot of my stuff damaged and nobody to reach out for help - Nobody to help me claim the true cost of the damage to my stuff and understand the trauma I went through.

Fortunately, there is the Internet and blogging.
I was not going to sit quietly and let these people get away with taking advantage of me, after having paid them almost $12,000,00 of money I did not have, to move my stuff.

Word of mouth can be a great tool in advertising, both positive or negative.

They (Multi City) will say that they have compensated me and that my complaint has been resolved.

You be the judge.

I wrote this letter to them about a year ago and it has been bothering me how these people can have no conscience. After almost a year of debating with myself, I have finally decided to put the letter on my blog.

They can take their $350.00 and shove it where the sun don't shine. (you can see how they have affected me!!!!)

Dear Mr Bonder:

 I am writing to you because until now you have only heard from  my caregiver, Michael.

This whole move from Toronto to Nova Scotia with Multi City has been a complete disaster..................... except for the beginning. 

It started off very well. You were very good with the initial consultation (of course you had to be because you wanted our business) and the fellows packing our stuff in Toronto were excellent as well. I do not get the point of  all the labeling and numbering of the boxes as I was not able to count them when they got here and I was also not able to identify the numbers as the people off loading were so unprofessional, that they put boxes everywhere,  and caused damage to a lot of  my stuff.

Michael has already sent you pictures so I will not send them to you again.

The warning signs went off when we returned to the house to discover a damaged box in the garbage. That was wrong. Your supposedly prestigious company's employees did that! It was only because we had to go back to clean the house that we discovered that not only did they throw a damaged box in the garbage but they also forgot things outside the garage. It is a good thing we saw this and you were then able to send someone to pick them up.

When we got to Nova Scotia, we were told that the truck delivering our stuff would arrive at out address by 8:00 am. Several phone calls to your office later, we were told he was on his way and the driver finally arrived between 2:00pm and 3:00pm with casual laborers he had picked up from Halifax. He said so himself.

 I am not going to tell you again how he damaged three lawns in the process of trying to maneuver the truck on to the driveway. You already know that. You just choose to ignore it.

 I have Multiple Sclerosis and could not supervise or direct the flow of boxes from the truck to the house. Despite that, I went up and down stairs to try and make sure that the boxes were put in the right rooms and in an orderly fashion so that we could enter the rooms and that the entrances and hallways were not blocked.

Well, the boxes were not put in the right rooms or the right floors and at one point, one of the fellows was stacking the boxes on the front porch because he had piled the boxes in the hallway and front entrance and could not put any more. It did not matter what the label said. He just piled them stacking them as high as he could. This is wrong and you know it.

 This was on the 28th of March and was the first week of Spring so the ground was wet and the truck had damaged lawns and there was mud everywhere. Do you think they wore protective foot covering? Do you think they organized  themselves so that a few could off load the truck and bring the boxes to the door and the rest would stay in the house and move boxes so as not to get floors and carpets dirty? OF COURSE NOT. THAT WOULD ONLY BE TOO LOGICAL  - This was wrong and you bloody well know it.

 They all marched in the mud and brought all that dirt in the house and on my floors (which, despite being disabled, I had cleaned that morning) and on my carpets. DISGUSTING!

Then your people got hungry. I bought them pizza. It was neither my job, nor my responsibility to do so. But I did it out of the goodness of my heart. SOMETHING YOU AND YOUR COMPANY OBVIOUSLY LACK!

As it got dark, we were asked to use our car to shine lights on the truck so the movers could see what they are doing. WHO COMPENSATED ME FOR THE 4 HOURS OF GAS THAT MY CAR RAN ON WHILE YOUR PEOPLE COULD OFF LOAD?  This would not have happened had they arrived in the morning like they were supposed to!

 Then, when they were 3/4 of the way through, it was time to settle the bill or they would keep the rest of my stuff on the truck.

There was no way of knowing whether all the boxes actually came into the house; there was no way of knowing what was damaged because of mishandling by your unprofessional people; there was no way of knowing whether anything was missing (because the guys off loading were just picked off the street and there was no accountability).

The bill was way over your estimate and we had to scrounge from different sources to pay this.

 You had so highly under-estimated the cost in order to get us to sign the contract.

I know exactly what it was. You gave us a low quote, got out business and then give us a bill just before all  the stuff was off loaded so we had to pay or lose the stuff!

 I am on disability and therefore on a fixed and a very limited income. You took a large chunk of that and refused to fairly compensate me for all the damages caused by your company.

 I hope you can sleep nights knowing how you scammed a disabled person and then offered a mere $350.00 as compensation for all the damages, costs and mental distress.

If what comes around goes around, I am sure you will soon experience the very hell you put me through!

By the time the movers were  getting ready to leave, at around 2:00am, they had not assembled the beds and were not going to (they said it was not their job. Your company disassembled them. Who was to assemble them?) One of the three movers was cranky and tired and refused to leave the truck.

 The driver said that he would assemble my bed out of the goodness of his heart. Well, he did it but he did it wrong and my bed collapsed on the first night with me on it!

 By the time they left, my sofa and love seat were lying on their side, still wrapped in plastic, there were boxes in the hallway and on the front porch, the boxes for the attic were in the basement and vice-versa, my wheelchair was left out in the rain to rust, the house was a muddy mess, my carpets were muddy, dirty and stained and I wished I had never set eyes on you!

 I sent you pictures of all this. They left furniture still wrapped up in your blankets. My electric piano (which your people packed) is damaged with broken knobs and scratches.

 When we started opening boxes, we found more damages.

 As we arranged the furniture, we found scratches.

 Again, I sent you pictures of all this.

 I have a large 6'X 8' stained glass picture which your people packed. It was damaged,  with the frame bent and the glass broken. I sent you pictures of this too and you have the nerve to offer me $350.00 in compensation for everything?

 Your fine print states that we would have to sue you in the city of origin. You know that is practically impossible because of my disability.

 I pray I have the strength to tarnish your reputation enough to cause you the same pain and suffering you have caused me.

 I should ask............ how much did you make on commissions from our move?

After everything, you offered me a $650.00 with a $300.00 deductible so I ended up with merely $350.00 as compensation from you.

After all the damages and mental stress and physical strain that you caused me, you have the audacity to offer me $350.00? 

When Michael, my caregiver questioned your assistant Talin about it, you phoned him and asked him to stop harrassing her. She agreed with the errors your company had made and you said she was mistaken and, buried everything.

I do not know how you can live with yourself. No decent human being could but then, you have no decency and I hope that someday you rot in the same hell you  have put me through. 

I hope you experience the same pain and discomfort you have caused me and every time you look at yourself in the mirror, you remember how you scammed a disabled person off by ripping him off!

Sincerely,

Alnoor Rajan

These are only some of the many many damages:

My Letter to Santa..............................

Dear Santa:

I hope you are well. I know this a really busy time for you and this is a little last minute but, I am writing to let you know that I have really tried to be my best this past year and had a few things on my wish list. 





 







The list is not really just for me, but for the all the people in the world:

• To eliminate all illness (natural and manmade).
• To eradicate poverty and hunger. We can go to the moon, and we can create multi-nationals which claim billions, even trillions in profit, but we cannot (or will not) eradicate hunger and poverty.
• To be rid of personal and corporate greed, and especially of those companies that thrive on war.
•  To rid the world of organizations that prey on the ignorance of man.
• To hypnotise all terrorists into believing they are actually monks.
• To ban the manufacturing and use of arms, along with weapons of mass destruction and the need to bear arms so that innocent men, women and children do not become victims to the evil in men.
•  To remove all geographic borders and have all people become citizens of the world.
• To unite all faiths and religions and put a stop to all religious bickering, disagreements and resulting wars; after all, their teachings really are all the same.
• To be rid of hate or the need for revenge, and spread only love and brotherhood.
• To achieve racial, sexual and social equality in every corner of the world.
• To remove the illusion that `the Holidays` are a time for unnecessary gift giving and excessive materialism.
• To educate ignorant humans that love and only love is greatest gift of all and that we always need to keep our nearest and dearest close to us.
• To instil the values of being kind, helpful and respectful to others and to have good positive thoughts for oneself and others, regardless of religion, race, creed, sex or sexual orientation.
• To understand that we need to waste less, spend less and learn to be happy with what we have - to learn the elusive art of contentment and to rid us of all selfish illusions of materialistic grandeur, fame and fortune.
• To foster good, kind thoughts for all, even those who have harmed us - it is not what others do to us that matters, it is what we do to and for them.
• To realize that it is not our place to judge people for what they do and for who or what they are.  Instead, we can live by what a very wise man once said – “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone”. We need to ‘remove the planks in our own eyes before removing splinters from the eyes of others’.



I realize that this is may be a difficult list but these are the shackles that stop us from being human.  Please help us break free of them.

I have written to God but he seems to have left it all to humans, who have made all the wrong choices. Despite their apparent intelligence, most have forgotten who they really are.  They have become insensitive, selfish, vengeful, glory seeking, materialistic, vain, jealous, complacent, ungrateful, wasteful and most of all unkind and unloving.

This is probably what the Mayans meant as ‘the end of the world’. It was the end of `humanity`.

 Since Christmas is a time for Santa’s little miracles, I thought maybe you could help remind people of charity, selflessness, sympathy humility, kindness, acceptance, forgiveness, contentment, gratefulness, and love; for these are basically decent people living in an indecent time. They just need a little reminder.

Then and only then will we experience the true spirit of Christmas – Peace and Love for All.

Sincerely,

Alnoor

So Many Unanswered Questions.......................

It seems that  life really is full of unanswered questions.
 
As life progresses, some of these get answered while others remain unanswered, and some more are added to the list.

Here is what I am questioning now:

Why is it that in our efforts in going green, some places have stopped using harsh chemicals for their lawns but have completely ignored the effects of pesticides? Aren't these seeping into the ground also?

Why are we constantly raising money for illness research by walks, lotteries or fundraising when the pharmaceutical industry gets huge tax breaks for research and development? (R and D - Rip  and Deceive)?

Why is it that governments cannot (or will not) put an end to all the preservatives and taste enhancers used by the food industry when in the long run, the effects of these very poisons cause so many illnesses and complications?


Why have governments , neither questioned nor  stopped the poisonous additives like high fructose corn syrup, MSG or all the preservatives that are currently being used?    Why has nobody questioned the effects of the artificial sweeteners, chemicals and additives to our bodies? These have made the world sicker and fatter. Oh but they are low calorie,  reduce spoilage and increase shelf life!!!!!!!

Why do 'natural' and 'no chemical added' foods cost more? They are natural!   I guess adding poisons to make these foods lethal makes them cheaper.

Why is it that we need to eat ten cobs of corn to get the same nutritional value of one cob of corn consumed 50 or a 100 years ago?


Why are the FDA and HPB (Health Protective Branch) approving  food and drugs which increase dependence and obesity, for ailments like diabetes. cholesterol and other illnesses in the population?    Do they really have our interests in mind? Can we really trust anything they say?

Why does the produce have to shine so much (like the apples in the grocery stores)? These waxes are known to cause a lot of complications in the body.
Are they more for preserving the apple than for maintaining human health?

Why is there more chlorine in my tap water than in my swimming pool?

Why is it that on Earth Day, we are asked to switch off the lights for an hour while the corporate buildings have most of their lights on every night?  IS IT ALL JUST LIP SERVICE?

So many unanswered questions..........................................................................................

Do you hate your life?

I was feeling really down the other day and googled "Why do I hate my life so much?"

I guess we all go through those days when we hate our lives and I was surprised to see that there were a lot of posts from teenagers, youth and adults, who at some point hated their lives.

We are not alone, even in despair.

One such post sounded like me  - 30 years ago (has it been that long?) and I decided that I needed to respond.

This was my response:

I ask myself the same question several times a week?

 

In fact, I have been asking this question ever since I was a teenager and I am now 48.

Like you, I thought I was numb, waiting for someone to take me to a place - any place that was different from where I was.

Pink Floyd has a song in which one of the lines says ``I am comfortably numb``. I too felt numb.

The truth is that I did not hate my life. I hated moments of it. Moments when I was unhappy because things did not go as I had planned and moments where there was no harmony.

There will always be times of difficulty and moments of clarity. Life is full of opposing factors. There has to be darkness for us to appreciate the light, we have to go down in order to go up and even though these idioms and cliches are a dime a dozen, there may be some truth in them.

 The truth actually lies within you.

It is not our difficulties or trials which define us. It is how we come out of them and triumph, despite them.

When I was most depressed, I decided that I needed to divert my attention from my own problems to those of others. I joined the local  telephone distress center to anonymously help people  by listening to them and enabling them to make right choices to make their lives better.

This in turn helped me feel better.

By helping others in need, I kind of put my own issues on the back burner and almost forgot about then. My whole focus and outlook to life changed. I became content with who I was, what I had .  I became more tolerant, more patient and more accepting of my life. There will always be people who, seemingly, have it all and there will also always be people who are worse off than you are.

I also started keeping a journal. It felt like my anger was no longer bottled inside of me, I had an outlet, I also decided that if I was not able to change my  then present situation, I would do something about it by making a 10 year plan. I asked myself the five questions I wanted to change in my life - what, where how and why. I already knew the when - 10 years.

 Once I did that, I broke it down to 5 years, then 12 months, 1 month, 4 weeks, weekly and finally, daily. Every day I did something to ultimately help me achieve my 10 year plan

At 48, I  may not have achieved everything I set out to but, a wise man once said, 'struggle is the meaning of life', and nothing was going to stop me from trying.

I still get mad at life, I cry, I shout and I still feel numbed by life. I still write in my journal and I still have an ever growing 10 year plan. When I achieve something, however small, I just check it off like you would a 'to do' list. I modify the rest, re-invent myself if I have to, and keep on going.

I have also added a new section to my journal - things I am happy and grateful for, like the people who love me or something as insignificant as waking up in the morning.
This helps me  change my focus to the positive things in my life. I meditate and I have regular conversations (and fights) with God - whoever that is.

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when I was 42 and my goals had to change. There were times I sank even deeper in despair, anger and hatred

Now at 48, I still want to be a teacher, a flight attendant, a landscape designer, a pianist and so many other things. The struggle continues.........................................................

Yes, I still have moments of anger and despair, more so because of my illness and the challenges it brings. But, I also have successes, however small, and life just continues one day at a time, one objective at a time, one step at a time.

If I accept that I am exactly where I am meant to be and experiencing exactly what I am meant to experience, I find I am not fighting any more.

I recognize my strengths as well as my limitations. I am not in competition with anybody, not even with myself! I have my goals and, my  small achievements keep me going.

Look for the good in the bad.

To quote and turn your own words, you do not eat because you are hungry, you eat because your body needs nourishment to give you the energy and strength to seize each  moment of every day.
Those gray skies around you bring rain, which help water our gardens so the beautiful flowers may bloom.

We cannot choose what happens to us just how we deal with it
Create your hunger for life by helping those in need, by defining and redefining your goals, by being non-judgemental, and by learning acceptance and contentment.

It really does help and your outlook to life will change.
Try it!

Good Luck!

Never say never

As I disembarked the Norwegian Gem in Sydney Nova Scotia, in the Fall of 2011, I was filled with a meditative sense of peace and calm and instantly knew in my heart, that Nova Scotia would, someday be my home. I recalled feeling like this way once before. It was when I first landed in Canada in 1989. I knew then like I knew now, that I was home.

When would this happen?  That was just another one of a billion unanswered questions, in my life.

I was on a New England cruise with my parents and my caregiver. It was a surprise from my parents. We had travelled from Toronto, by Greyhound coach to New York and taken the cruise to New England, Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. What was funny was that the trip to and from New York and the cruise, cost less than flying directly from Toronto to Nova Scotia. The airline companies seem to have gone a little mad with their prices! Not to mention we also received accommodation and food!

On returning to Toronto, I could not stop thinking about moving to Nova Scotia.  My research took me from looking for homes, to exploring the various climatic zones, the availability of medical practitioners and naturopaths and of course  having some proximity to an Ismaili Muslim mosque and community center.

I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2006 and have been treating the illness without any prescription drugs but with natural therapies, diet, nutrition and the whole mind, body and spirit approach. My illness was not the focus in my life but even then, it seemed that everything else in my life revolved around my illness. I had to plan my days and my activities around my energy level and the ability to cope with the mental and physical strain of each task.
A big part of my life has been the community center where I am a story teller, a religious teacher and an ESL to adults. My doctor is only a thirty minute drive from home. The pharmacy is another forty five minutes away. These conveniences have become a big part of my life and any change would disrupt my otherwise well planned perfect routines.

The day I set foot on Nova Scotia soil, I was fully prepared to give up my conveniences. I was in love with the openness of the land, with the kindness and warmth of the people, and with the peace and tranquility of the life there. The difference was like night and day. I was to break free from being at the mercy of neon signs invading my space, forcing my gaze to the ugly advertising and the billboards; I was never again to be a victim nor give in to road rage - I could drive the speed limit and would not be chastised or insulted and the best part of it all was that I would not have to put up with people who were in a constant hurry, who were in competition with the world around them as well as with themselves. Just this stress in Ontario was enough to give me an MS attack!

In the Winter of 2011, I drove to Nova Scotia with my caregiver and my mother, from Ontario, a mere 21 hour journey, to search for a home. Today, four months after I first set foot in Nova Scotia, I have put my house up for sale and have purchased a home that closes in a couple of months.

The Annapolis Valley is to be my new home. Green pastures, fertile lands, the north and south mountains, the snaking Annapolis river, and clean air offer the right scenic environment and the climatic and environmental condition (not to mention tranquility) are perfect for healthy, stress-free living, especially for me, living with multiple sclerosis.

 The Annapolis Valley offers the best climatic condition for living with MS It has shorter milder winters and longer milder summers. Its peaceful setting make it an ideal environment for starting a new life in a new province I am soon to call home.
I can now call myself a Maritimer.

Now begins the arduous task of packing..
I was sure my previous home was to be my last home. Well, here I am, once again, preparing to move to another home, in another province.

I guess, the idiom “Never say never’ really is true!

What Liberty stands for.........................

Liberty is a concept in political philosophy that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions.

The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of light and freedom to all who see it and dream of a new life in America. Built in France and shipped to New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty officially opened for visitors in 1886. Since then, it has been a beacon for immigrants the world over and a destination for tourists from all over the U.S

There are different conceptions of liberty, which articulate the relationship of individuals to society in different ways, including some which relate to life under a "social contract" or to existence in a "state of nature", and some which see the active exercise of freedom and rights as essential to liberty.

I have just come back from a trip to New York and had the opportunity to actually see the Statue of Liberty for the first time in my life.

It evoked a feeling a awe, wonder and regret. It's mere stature in the entry way of the Port of New York, the symbolism in everything from Lady Liberty's crown to her sandals and her forward walking motion were the source of awe and wonder.

Unfortunately, there was also regret brought about by the demise of societal values where human beings are only viewed as dollar signs by the corporations, where the medical and pharmaceutical industries only view illnesses only by how much revenue they generate, where human lives are valueless while their illnesses make these pharmaceutical industries trillions in profits, and where the true meaning of liberty of taking responsibility for actions is completely ignored by those in power, be they doctors, politicians, gas companies or (one more time) the greedy pharmaceutical corporations.

As Lady Liberty continues to stand in the gateway to New York city, she may one day inspire the true characteristics of Liberty in human beings.

Will that day really ever come?.

I Am Back!

I am a back after a long break.
Time seems to fly. and it seems I just blinked and six months have gone by!

What have I been doing?
Well let me see, I have been writing (obviously not the blog), spent time with my parents (they were visiting me) and in fact, they surprised me with a New England cruise which was fabulous!
I took a TEFL course and am now a certified teacher (yay), and I have continued with my tutoring and story telling and absolutely love it.
I was selected to be a medal bearer for the Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary cross country relay, which was a fantastic honour and I had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people who make a difference in the lives of others

. The last thing I did in 2011 was that I participated on stage in an African dance. I was the chief and it felt so good to be back on stage again. I stopped performing after I was diagnosed and had a thrill of a lifetime!

That was all I did and before I knew it it was January 2012.
.