Comments on: Della GrayMountain http://www.rogerhansen.org/2008/08/della-graymountain/ Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:25:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Roger Hansen http://www.rogerhansen.org/2008/08/della-graymountain/#comment-4757 Roger Hansen Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:27:15 +0000 http://www.rogerhansen.org/?p=45#comment-4757 In mid-October 2009, I visited briefly with Della (mainly her caretaker since Della doesn't speak English). She indicated that the indoor toilet was difficult for her to use because of its height (too low). She had a booster toilet seat, but her grandkids keep taking it off (she has the only indoor plumbing in the area). And for some reason she doesn't replace it. Her difficulties with the toilet have caused problems. Also, she is unconfortable with the pilot light on the stove and refrigerator (both propane powered). She keeps blowing them out. Her caretaker said she is afraid of the fire. At this point, our attempts to improve her life have only been partially successful. But we will keep trying. We may need a different type of refrigerator, a higher toilet basin, and handicap railing in the bathroom. In the recent Time Magazine, Joe Klein mentions a story provided by General Stanley McChrystal to justify a change in tactics in Afghanistan. It essentially deals with unintended consequences from good intentions. The parable deals with digging a well: "How could you do anything wrong by digging a well to give people clean water?" Well, you could create new enemies by where you dug the well and who controlled it. You could lose a village by trying to help it. Hopefully, our Della experiment is not doing something similar. In mid-October 2009, I visited briefly with Della (mainly her caretaker since Della doesn’t speak English). She indicated that the indoor toilet was difficult for her to use because of its height (too low). She had a booster toilet seat, but her grandkids keep taking it off (she has the only indoor plumbing in the area). And for some reason she doesn’t replace it. Her difficulties with the toilet have caused problems.

Also, she is unconfortable with the pilot light on the stove and refrigerator (both propane powered). She keeps blowing them out. Her caretaker said she is afraid of the fire.

At this point, our attempts to improve her life have only been partially successful. But we will keep trying. We may need a different type of refrigerator, a higher toilet basin, and handicap railing in the bathroom.

In the recent Time Magazine, Joe Klein mentions a story provided by General Stanley McChrystal to justify a change in tactics in Afghanistan. It essentially deals with unintended consequences from good intentions. The parable deals with digging a well: “How could you do anything wrong by digging a well to give people clean water?” Well, you could create new enemies by where you dug the well and who controlled it. You could lose a village by trying to help it. Hopefully, our Della experiment is not doing something similar.

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