This story was posted on the RA Facebook page last week…something I had long forgotten.
So I am dealing with a backed up septic tank at my new apartment. This brought back a memory from the HA. A staff member had a big talk with the ladies about flushing tampons down the toilet because maintenance had to pick them out of some filter. Um, EXCUSE ME? Why were professionals with HAZMAT not called in? Interns have no business messing with septic/sewage systems. Completely dangerous and illegal.
Did anyone else find this to be the case during their intern year?
If you’d like to join the RA Facebook group, email me at recoveringalumni at recoveringalumni dot blog. Its a secret group so you have to be added by an administrator.
42 comments:
Shannon Kishsays:June 4, 2012 at 11:12 AMReply
How disgusting!
Lauren Fewxsays:June 4, 2012 at 11:49 AMReply
I don’t visit the site much, as I stand somewhere in the middle of the whole HA/RA debate. I can say for sure that this happened my year (99). We had at least two women’s meetings that addressed the issue. They described our poor brothers in Christ as wading through feces, blood, and urine to unclog the septic tank, just to find tampons. The way it was addressed it was like they wanted us to look out for our brothers… it more was like they wanted us to protect them from something that went in our crotches, not from wading in septic tank. I believe there was talk about what it cost the ministry as well.
Intern 03-04says:June 4, 2012 at 2:12 PMReply
I had the same exact experience as Lauren in 03
Doug Duncansays:June 4, 2012 at 3:44 PMReply
This is horrifying!
Lauren, your comment interests me. In view of this type of mistreatment, how is it that you still manage to be in the middle?
Nicolesays:June 4, 2012 at 5:37 PMReply
I am the one who posted the original quote. Teen Mania should be held accountable to calling professional plumbers to deal with sewage, not be cheap and force untrained young people to deal with dangerous pathogens.
Carriesays:June 4, 2012 at 7:46 PMReplyThis comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymoussays:June 4, 2012 at 8:02 PMReply
It’s really not a big deal, they don’t “wade” through it the way it’s portrayed to be done. You just reach down there into the lift station with a stick and fish the stuff out. It doesn’t take a lot of training, in fact, it’s basic human nature to know well enough to not touch the “junk”. Just fish out the problem and move on to the next assignment.
-Been there done that
Ericsays:June 4, 2012 at 8:13 PMReply
So Teen Mania is taking $8,000 per student supposedly to cover room and board, and then the students have to do the maintenance work themselves anyway? Even aside from the obvious sketchiness of getting untrained volunteers to do a professional’s job (and an unsanitary one at that), that smells pretty bad to me.
In fact, I can think of exactly what it smells like….
Ericsays:June 4, 2012 at 8:26 PMReply
Anon @8:02– Thanks for confirming that you’ve “done that.” I’m sure those who don’t share your lackadaisical attitude toward working with untreated sewage will be interested to take note.
Anonymoussays:June 4, 2012 at 8:45 PMReply
Eric-
If you’ll read my comment carefully, you’ll realize that yes, I have “done that” but it’s not what it’s made out to be. It’s all done with just a stick. No contact required 🙂
-BTDT
wanderersays:June 4, 2012 at 9:17 PMReply
One thing I can’t seem to get past is that maintenance/ sewer problems, etc. were some people’s FULL TIME JOBS….. I can’t even imagine justifying that someone is getting an $8000 internship experience by attending a few classes, following a bunch of rules, and then spending 35-60 hours/week cleaning up other people’s s***.
Ericsays:June 5, 2012 at 8:02 AMReply
BTDT: Oh, I saw that; I just fail to understand how that makes it any better. (If you’d read my comment carefully, you’d have seen that I said “working with untreated sewage,” not “handling it.”)
Working with sewage at all (whether with a stick or otherwise) is considered a health risk, and it’s ridiculous for TM to expect untrained interns to deal with this hazardous situation. Here’s an official guide, for example: http://www.scribd.com/doc/45921029/HSE-Working-With-Sewage
Did HA offer you that kind of advice in your training? And again, why didn’t they just pay for a professional with all the money you gave them?
laynesays:June 5, 2012 at 9:17 AMReply
Anon, I don’t mean to attack you, but I do want to address this… situations or duties that you may not seem to think are a big deal can actually be violations of local codes (though I can’t say for sure, I haven’t researched it). Whether you are willing to do them or not does not really matter.
Further, I hope that you are never in a “leadership” position that requires you to ask others to do things that you consider “not a big deal”, while the people under your leadership are not comfortable with the task or properly trained and/or suited for the job. This is where spiritual manipulation comes in. Leaders will tell their underlings to pray for their safety (against, say, diseases) or explain that it is Jesus who is asking them to do the dirty jobs, and wont you do anything for Jesus and the ministry? They are made to think that saying no and standing firm behind an inuitive decision is spiritual weakness. That is abuse.
What I’m saying is, yes, you can handle raw sewage with a smile and wink. Good for you. Don’t expect others to be so numb to it.
Recovering Alumnisays:June 5, 2012 at 10:10 AMReply
Bravo, Layne! Well said.
Doug Duncansays:June 5, 2012 at 10:46 AMReply
Layne’s point about the codes is a good one. As Believers, aren’t we supposed to cooperate with legitimate authority? Obeying the law seems pretty basic, IMHO.
Anonymoussays:June 5, 2012 at 10:53 AMReply
Dave used to run the sewer plant.
Sarah Elizabethsays:June 5, 2012 at 11:02 AMReply
It was very common for there to be cockroaches in the dorms my year (05-06). I woke up one night with 2 in my bed. The next morning I told maintenance and the guy that came to my room told me I was a baby and that I should stop complaining.
The Daggersays:June 5, 2012 at 11:08 AMReply
Future interns –
Raise money so you can remove used tampons and sh*t for the Lord.
GET A JOB – Worst economy since the Great Depression. Unemployment rate for your generation is 50%+. So don’t be lazy. Get used of hard work, sleepless nights, and being poor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-B51D0lmCk&feature=player_embedded
BTW – The video makes me sick. I’m wondering if HA has a coded message in it.
Anonymoussays:June 5, 2012 at 11:09 AMReply
I found 2 used condoms in Elliot Hall my year. Not sure where they came from.
Recovering Alumnisays:June 5, 2012 at 11:17 AMReply
Dagger – I think it makes you sick b/c the camera seems to be moving…gave me a bit of motion sickness, too!
Sarah Elizabethsays:June 5, 2012 at 11:39 AMReply
Anon –
Gross
Anonymoussays:June 5, 2012 at 8:31 PMReply
Anon @ 11:09,
I’m guessing they came from the end of a wet d*&k
Eric,
We all wipe our own a$#$es, so what’s the big deal?
-BTDT
Ericsays:June 5, 2012 at 11:04 PMReplyThis comment has been removed by the author.
Ericsays:June 5, 2012 at 11:26 PMReply
BTDT: Now you’re just trolling.
(…Please be just trolling.)
Anonymoussays:June 6, 2012 at 2:06 PMReply
I know there was a outside contractor that handled the sewage system for several years at TM. some guy in a pickup truck that was out there 1-2 times a week.
Anonymoussays:June 6, 2012 at 2:42 PMReply
To all of our legal scholars out there.
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/HS/htm/HS.366.htm
Do we see any violations by Teen Mania?
http://www.ehow.com/info_8372308_effects-breathing-raw-sewage.html
ME!says:June 8, 2012 at 12:06 AMReply
we should all vote that fundraising video down as much as possible! I already gave it a thumbs down.
Anonymoussays:June 8, 2012 at 12:38 AMReply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxzBRdjp5Ek&feature=relmfu
hey! teen mania’s sexist relationship advice!
Anonymoussays:June 8, 2012 at 11:48 AMReply
In my year I didn’t hear about any of this but I did serve in the kitchen and on custodial my year and while some people might laugh at someone being content with that ‘full time job’ the truth was that I was there to serve, not be served. It never bothered me to have a ‘labor’ type job.
Doug Duncansays:June 9, 2012 at 10:33 AMReply
Anon 11:48,
There is a difference between working in food service and being required to fish tampons out of raw sewage.
Do you think people are saying it is wrong or demeaning to work in ‘labor’ type jobs? I haven’t seen anyone say anything remotely like that on this blog. Personally, I have worked in plenty of ‘labor’ type jobs, and I will be the first to defend the dignity of any kind of honsest work. I find your comment a bit troubling, though. Is that really what you have gleaned from this discussion?
Shannon Kishsays:June 10, 2012 at 11:25 AMReply
BTDT,
I couldn’t imagine why this community, a community designed for healing from the abuses of TMM, would be biased. That seems so ridiculous to me.
Wait, no it doesn’t. It makes perfect sense.
We have been hurt. We have been called names (bitter, slanderous, etc) for being a part of this community by the very people who come on here claiming to be “unbiased” yet supporters of TM.
Color us cautious when someone comes in and shares their “positive” experiences in a manner that is meant to discredit and lower the significance and reality of our painful experiences.
Maybe one day you will understand this. I can only hope that is the case.
Renaesays:June 10, 2012 at 3:36 PMReply
Anon @ 11:48,
I don’t think anyone is trying to say that labor-type jobs are demeaning. I worked for a small construction company just after high school and I loved it. I actually wanted to be on K-crew or maintenance, but got stuck in the ATF call center. I think the point being made is that people who work with sanitation are trained in how to handle sewage safely. The reason for that is to avoid spreading sickness. An untrained young person handling raw sewage or bloody tampons without the proper equipment is dangerous. They could get very sick, or they could get others very sick.
Anonymoussays:June 11, 2012 at 2:05 PMReply
BREAKING NEWS! I’m a current staff member at TM. Christian businessman, Philip Anschutz met with the board and Ron. If Ron steps down in August, he agreed to pay off Teen Mania’s debt and help the ministry moving forward. No word if Ron accepted the offer and will resign.
Recovering Alumnisays:June 11, 2012 at 2:08 PMReply
Dear Anonymous – Could you email me? I’d like to find out if this is legit.
I’ve deleted comments like these in the past b/c there was no way to know if they were true or not… several turned out to be completely legit – most notably that Dave was leaving TM – so I’ll leave this up for now.
Anonymoussays:June 19, 2012 at 12:00 PMReply
Something messed up with the septic line at the quads my year (aug 07-08) and I was helping the plumber / m.a. unclog whatever. When the job was done there was literally so much shit in the yard that I had to pick up and dispose of. He just left me there and told me it had to be done.
gracemakesfreesays:June 19, 2012 at 6:49 PMReply
How crazy is it that, I know this happened … it’s obvious that this happened, but when we were at TMM, no one ever thought anything of it.
It’s amazing how individuals can’t just accept that there were some major things wrong with how TMM operates.
It makes me wonder how deep the rabbit hole goes …
Anonymoussays:June 20, 2012 at 7:28 AMReply
any word on the validity of Anonymous’s comment about Ron stepping down?
Recovering Alumnisays:June 20, 2012 at 9:05 AMReply
Id say it was probably bogus…
Anonymoussays:July 13, 2012 at 11:16 PMReply
Yes, my GI year we lived in those 4 little houses down by the pond and were told not to flush tampons because maintenance crew had spent hours the day before unclogging them from the pipes. They definitely did not say they called a plumber, they said the maintenance crew, which we all know is interns. I remember feeling very sorry for those boys, and also oddly embarrassed they had to see that stuff.
No Poop On Mesays:September 21, 2012 at 10:20 PMReply
One time I was babysitting this little baby who ended up with a diaper filled with human feces. She looked at me like I was supposed to do something about it. I was like, “Uh uh, girl! I’m calling a professional.” That’s the same thing those boys should have done.
Seansays:October 1, 2012 at 12:22 PMReply
Poop – Clearly you see that there is a difference between a baby’s diaper and tank of feces in which you can wade. That’s clear, right?
Rose Marrysays:July 30, 2013 at 3:46 AMReply
Well done…
It’s your own responsibility to clean our septic tank.
distribution boxes
How disgusting!
I don’t visit the site much, as I stand somewhere in the middle of the whole HA/RA debate. I can say for sure that this happened my year (99). We had at least two women’s meetings that addressed the issue. They described our poor brothers in Christ as wading through feces, blood, and urine to unclog the septic tank, just to find tampons. The way it was addressed it was like they wanted us to look out for our brothers… it more was like they wanted us to protect them from something that went in our crotches, not from wading in septic tank. I believe there was talk about what it cost the ministry as well.
I had the same exact experience as Lauren in 03
This is horrifying!
Lauren, your comment interests me. In view of this type of mistreatment, how is it that you still manage to be in the middle?
I am the one who posted the original quote. Teen Mania should be held accountable to calling professional plumbers to deal with sewage, not be cheap and force untrained young people to deal with dangerous pathogens.
This comment has been removed by the author.
It’s really not a big deal, they don’t “wade” through it the way it’s portrayed to be done. You just reach down there into the lift station with a stick and fish the stuff out. It doesn’t take a lot of training, in fact, it’s basic human nature to know well enough to not touch the “junk”. Just fish out the problem and move on to the next assignment.
-Been there done that
So Teen Mania is taking $8,000 per student supposedly to cover room and board, and then the students have to do the maintenance work themselves anyway? Even aside from the obvious sketchiness of getting untrained volunteers to do a professional’s job (and an unsanitary one at that), that smells pretty bad to me.
In fact, I can think of exactly what it smells like….
Anon @8:02– Thanks for confirming that you’ve “done that.” I’m sure those who don’t share your lackadaisical attitude toward working with untreated sewage will be interested to take note.
Eric-
If you’ll read my comment carefully, you’ll realize that yes, I have “done that” but it’s not what it’s made out to be. It’s all done with just a stick. No contact required 🙂
-BTDT
One thing I can’t seem to get past is that maintenance/ sewer problems, etc. were some people’s FULL TIME JOBS….. I can’t even imagine justifying that someone is getting an $8000 internship experience by attending a few classes, following a bunch of rules, and then spending 35-60 hours/week cleaning up other people’s s***.
BTDT: Oh, I saw that; I just fail to understand how that makes it any better. (If you’d read my comment carefully, you’d have seen that I said “working with untreated sewage,” not “handling it.”)
Working with sewage at all (whether with a stick or otherwise) is considered a health risk, and it’s ridiculous for TM to expect untrained interns to deal with this hazardous situation. Here’s an official guide, for example: http://www.scribd.com/doc/45921029/HSE-Working-With-Sewage
Did HA offer you that kind of advice in your training? And again, why didn’t they just pay for a professional with all the money you gave them?
Anon, I don’t mean to attack you, but I do want to address this… situations or duties that you may not seem to think are a big deal can actually be violations of local codes (though I can’t say for sure, I haven’t researched it). Whether you are willing to do them or not does not really matter.
Further, I hope that you are never in a “leadership” position that requires you to ask others to do things that you consider “not a big deal”, while the people under your leadership are not comfortable with the task or properly trained and/or suited for the job. This is where spiritual manipulation comes in. Leaders will tell their underlings to pray for their safety (against, say, diseases) or explain that it is Jesus who is asking them to do the dirty jobs, and wont you do anything for Jesus and the ministry? They are made to think that saying no and standing firm behind an inuitive decision is spiritual weakness. That is abuse.
What I’m saying is, yes, you can handle raw sewage with a smile and wink. Good for you. Don’t expect others to be so numb to it.
Bravo, Layne! Well said.
Layne’s point about the codes is a good one. As Believers, aren’t we supposed to cooperate with legitimate authority? Obeying the law seems pretty basic, IMHO.
Dave used to run the sewer plant.
It was very common for there to be cockroaches in the dorms my year (05-06). I woke up one night with 2 in my bed. The next morning I told maintenance and the guy that came to my room told me I was a baby and that I should stop complaining.
Future interns –
Raise money so you can remove used tampons and sh*t for the Lord.
GET A JOB – Worst economy since the Great Depression. Unemployment rate for your generation is 50%+. So don’t be lazy. Get used of hard work, sleepless nights, and being poor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-B51D0lmCk&feature=player_embedded
BTW – The video makes me sick. I’m wondering if HA has a coded message in it.
I found 2 used condoms in Elliot Hall my year. Not sure where they came from.
Dagger – I think it makes you sick b/c the camera seems to be moving…gave me a bit of motion sickness, too!
Anon –
Gross
Anon @ 11:09,
I’m guessing they came from the end of a wet d*&k
Eric,
We all wipe our own a$#$es, so what’s the big deal?
-BTDT
This comment has been removed by the author.
BTDT: Now you’re just trolling.
(…Please be just trolling.)
I know there was a outside contractor that handled the sewage system for several years at TM. some guy in a pickup truck that was out there 1-2 times a week.
To all of our legal scholars out there.
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/HS/htm/HS.366.htm
Do we see any violations by Teen Mania?
http://www.ehow.com/info_8372308_effects-breathing-raw-sewage.html
we should all vote that fundraising video down as much as possible! I already gave it a thumbs down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxzBRdjp5Ek&feature=relmfu
hey! teen mania’s sexist relationship advice!
In my year I didn’t hear about any of this but I did serve in the kitchen and on custodial my year and while some people might laugh at someone being content with that ‘full time job’ the truth was that I was there to serve, not be served. It never bothered me to have a ‘labor’ type job.
Anon 11:48,
There is a difference between working in food service and being required to fish tampons out of raw sewage.
Do you think people are saying it is wrong or demeaning to work in ‘labor’ type jobs? I haven’t seen anyone say anything remotely like that on this blog. Personally, I have worked in plenty of ‘labor’ type jobs, and I will be the first to defend the dignity of any kind of honsest work. I find your comment a bit troubling, though. Is that really what you have gleaned from this discussion?
BTDT,
I couldn’t imagine why this community, a community designed for healing from the abuses of TMM, would be biased. That seems so ridiculous to me.
Wait, no it doesn’t. It makes perfect sense.
We have been hurt. We have been called names (bitter, slanderous, etc) for being a part of this community by the very people who come on here claiming to be “unbiased” yet supporters of TM.
Color us cautious when someone comes in and shares their “positive” experiences in a manner that is meant to discredit and lower the significance and reality of our painful experiences.
Maybe one day you will understand this. I can only hope that is the case.
Anon @ 11:48,
I don’t think anyone is trying to say that labor-type jobs are demeaning. I worked for a small construction company just after high school and I loved it. I actually wanted to be on K-crew or maintenance, but got stuck in the ATF call center. I think the point being made is that people who work with sanitation are trained in how to handle sewage safely. The reason for that is to avoid spreading sickness. An untrained young person handling raw sewage or bloody tampons without the proper equipment is dangerous. They could get very sick, or they could get others very sick.
BREAKING NEWS! I’m a current staff member at TM. Christian businessman, Philip Anschutz met with the board and Ron. If Ron steps down in August, he agreed to pay off Teen Mania’s debt and help the ministry moving forward. No word if Ron accepted the offer and will resign.
Dear Anonymous – Could you email me? I’d like to find out if this is legit.
I’ve deleted comments like these in the past b/c there was no way to know if they were true or not… several turned out to be completely legit – most notably that Dave was leaving TM – so I’ll leave this up for now.
Something messed up with the septic line at the quads my year (aug 07-08) and I was helping the plumber / m.a. unclog whatever. When the job was done there was literally so much shit in the yard that I had to pick up and dispose of. He just left me there and told me it had to be done.
How crazy is it that, I know this happened … it’s obvious that this happened, but when we were at TMM, no one ever thought anything of it.
It’s amazing how individuals can’t just accept that there were some major things wrong with how TMM operates.
It makes me wonder how deep the rabbit hole goes …
any word on the validity of Anonymous’s comment about Ron stepping down?
Id say it was probably bogus…
Yes, my GI year we lived in those 4 little houses down by the pond and were told not to flush tampons because maintenance crew had spent hours the day before unclogging them from the pipes. They definitely did not say they called a plumber, they said the maintenance crew, which we all know is interns. I remember feeling very sorry for those boys, and also oddly embarrassed they had to see that stuff.
One time I was babysitting this little baby who ended up with a diaper filled with human feces. She looked at me like I was supposed to do something about it. I was like, “Uh uh, girl! I’m calling a professional.” That’s the same thing those boys should have done.
Poop – Clearly you see that there is a difference between a baby’s diaper and tank of feces in which you can wade. That’s clear, right?
Well done…
It’s your own responsibility to clean our septic tank.
distribution boxes