Profound Disappointment

See--who said Tillie never got a bath? The last one was in June, 2007, when I tricked my sister, her husband and his kindly sister, and my nephew into scraping off a year's worth of dead bugs and road grime. It was right before I covered the GS logo with a plain label.

About a year ago I confidently and hopefully approached Gulf Stream Coach with a proposal to trade brand recognition for financial support of HEAR US, my unique national non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of homelessness.

I knew Tillie and I would be getting some national TV coverage and my thought was it could benefit GS as well as HEAR US. How glad I am that they said no. Shortly after the rejection I covered the GS logos.

I've been following the formaldehyde saga--where travel trailers provided by FEMA for hurricane victims were determined to have unacceptable levels of the toxic chemical. I know people who have stayed in these trailers. Some people I know who were placed in FEMA trailers after Hurricane Ivan have wondered about the integrity of the construction and their possible toxic levels.

This is not a new discussion. But it took a couple years for FEMA, the CDC, and the federal government to finally admit what I suspect people knew from the get-go: the toxic tin cans that have been home to thousands of families following the devastation of Hurricane Rita and Katrina in 2005 should never have been used.

Having bought my motorhome back in November 2005, I wonder if I should be worried. Gulf Stream is one of the main providers of the toxic units. Do I trust them if they assure me I have nothing to worry about?

What will happen to those responsible for the deception that continues today? Congress is quick to hold hearings and to determine blame for athletes who use steroids. OK, that's important, to a degree, but the formaldehyde scandal is much worse in my mind. Maybe the low-key approach is because most of the families in the tainted homes are not wealthy athletes??