Baby...It's Cold Outside

Liberty Center Residents Shivering Each Morning...Why?

Many of you know I enjoy the Liberty Center pool, and over time I've had the opportunity of meeting some of the most wonderful people who love the Center as much as I do.

People are becoming aware of Anthem Opinions and seem to enjoy the articles that I've written; so much so, that they've asked to make our community aware of another problem which seems to be ignored by RMI again and again.

I get up pretty early in the morning, but some others get to the Liberty Center before it opens at 5:30 am, anxiously waiting to get that morning work-out in before they start their day.

I usually get there a bit later after the building is open, and was unaware of a problem that seems to be near and dear to their hearts.

Then....I received the following email:

________________________________________________

Could someone, somewhere give me a satisfactory answer as to why Anthem Center lets users in before 5:30 am and Liberty Center does not....where is the equity????

 
It was freezing cold at 5:24 am this morning and the doors at Liberty were locked and the gentleman behind the nice warm desk made no attempt to let us in from the cold....

BLUE CARDS do not work!!!!  Even when the "usual" 8 of us submitted a card to ask AGAIN to be let in when it is cold or raining!

Again...WHERE IS THE EQUITY?   Maybe the rumor is true that the folks that use Liberty Center are "second class" compared to those that use the Anthem Center!!!!

So frustrated, I could scream......

Jan Fanning
Henderson, NV

_______________________________________________

Well Jan, you peaked my interest because I found it difficult to believe "nice" people would allow other "nice" people to contract pneumonia...

...until...

I saw it myself.

So...up I got at 4:00am, had my coffee, and proceeded to the Liberty Center with camera in hand, getting there at 5:15am.

It was cold, but I was determined to arrive at the Liberty Center before this "crowd of 8" she mentioned in her email got there.

I did, and when I arrived, I saw the RMI employee through the glass, sitting behind the desk "as snug as a bug in a rug". 

Great, I thought, it's before the normal opening time of 5:30am, but surely if I knock on the window, that individual sitting behind the desk would allow me entrance to avoid the frostbite.

NOPE

Evidently 5:30am means 5:30am, not 5:28am or 5:29am. 

Those doors were closed, and they were going to stay closed, until the "warden" decided to open the cell block.

Why...BECAUSE RMI DEMANDS IT, and will chastise OR possibly fire any employee who might open the door.

So...don't blame the attendant, blame the one who made up this ridiculous rule, namely our management company, RMI.

So, as I patiently waited for the "troublesome 8", they, one by one, approached the door and saw me standing there.

...and little Mrs. Jan Fanning, the composer of the email sent to me, in her most "feminine manner", looked at me and said....

"See, told ya so"

...and so, I decided to take a few pictures of those who were forced to wait out in the cold until the building "officially opened at 5:30am".

Note the pleasant attitudes each display while freezing their "parts" off.

Following my work out in the pool, as I walked out the door, I took another look at the doors of the Liberty Center....

,,,and after looking at them again, I thought....

There are two sets of doors; the first opening into a COZY HEATED vestibule; the second, into a COZY HEATED lobby.

Here's the first door entering the building.

This is the second door entering the lobby.

LOTS OF EMPTY WARM SPACE BETWEEN THE TWO DOORS

.....then, dangerously, I thought again....

OK, I can understand the lobby being closed until 5:30am, but not the first set of doors.

Why can't the first set of doors be opened allowing the people to enter, and stay warm until 5:30am when the second set would open?

Then to further stroke my curiosity, outside the cold was a park bench...a bench that could be inside the vestibule.

...a park bench that was obviously left outside to stack the frozen bodies who didn't make it inside until 5:30am !

Perhaps someone can explain why torture is a requirement for those who get there early?

Looking back at Jan Fanning's email, I also noted that at the Anthem Center, the outside doors ARE OPEN.   People are allowed into the building, but not permitted to use the facilities until the official starting time.

Now....that's logical and makes a great deal of sense, and if it's OK there, why not at the Liberty Center ?

Maybe Jan was right....Are Liberty Center users SECOND CLASS CITIZENS ???

So, Jan, let's hope someone does read those BLUE CARDS you mentioned.

The RMI management agreement will shortly be sent out for competitive bid, and maybe, or should I say hopefully, somewhere in that request, there will be a requirement that demands COMMON SENSE laced with a tad of COMPASSION for senior citizens, where a common cold might land you in a morgue.