Off the subject a little: Welcome To Lynne's Soapbox
A while back I promised to keep these posts about Japan specifically and not about military or family life but a former resident of Okinawa, Stacey (see tag board for original comments), has a refreshing point of view about live here on the Rock back in the day. First, “In The News:”
Opinion pages in the newspapers are a wonderful thing and rather pointed in this day and age of taking out the Taliban and other such terrorists who believe, among other things, that freedom of speech is an atrocity. With that said, it is amazing how many spoiled, closed-minded people are currently living on Okinawa. I spent 8 years in the Marine Corps and got out as a Sergeant. Granted I was never stationed overseas but regardless I don’t remember ever hearing so much complaining coming out of both spouses AND military personnel. In fact if I remember correctly, one of the first things we learned was to be happy for what we have when times are tough so that you can appreciate luxuries such as regular meals and not MREs, laundry facilities and even being able to own a car live in better quarters as you progress in rank.
In 2005 life in Okinawa is good. We have 65 cable channels, dial-up or ADSL Internet access depending on which base you live on, countless NCO, Staff NCO and Officer Clubs with good amenities, plenty of other on-base restaurants including the highest grossing Chili’s in the world. There are all sorts of opportunities for higher learning as well as classes to acquaint yourself with Japanese culture and the countryside itself. Off-base there are scores of parks with roller slides that go for days (I will find and post a picture because they are too cool), Americanized eateries such as A&W and Tony Roma’s and more excellent Japanese fare (go figure) than you know what to do with. There are 2 zoos that I know of, plenty of American-like malls (minus the hefty American sizes) and millions of other establishments that were designed for hours of fun with your friends and family. What could there be to complain about? You would be surprised.
The opinion page in our newspaper, Stars and Stripes, is littered with complaints regarding gas prices, AFFES policies, lack of cable internet in all areas and lack of cable channels on television. They (mostly the spouses) have driven me to the point where I want to scream because they are so spoiled and clueless! Last week one lady wrote in complaining about our cable. Except for the stations that are live via satellite (Discovery Channel, TLC, History Channel and the AFN channels just to name a few) the rest of our programming has a 2 week VHS tape delay while Americable was running the show. They were fired recently and Mediatti has taken over. We still have a two week delay but they use DVDs in stead of VHS tapes. We lost a couple channels including PBS and a Live Singapore Nick Toons channel, but we gained Bravo, FX and a couple other channels. Last week a lady wrote into the opinion column with a long complaint about our cable not being good enough…an excerpt follows:
“…
Since Mediatti seems to think that the only way to communicate with its customers is through local media outlets, I have some questions:
During the September Camp Foster town hall meeting, the Mediatti representative said A&E would be back in the channel lineup soon. When?
Why is there still a Japanese voiceover on the BBC during the evening?
Why does the program guide (Channel 2) still have missing channels?
When changes are made, why are they not listed on Channel 2?
How come the weekly television guide in Stars and Stripes still has many channels (USA, TNT, Bravo) not listed [in the program guide]?
Why are some channels on Mountain Time, as opposed to the advertised “West Coast” Pacific Time? This means that when a show says it will be on at 11 p.m., it is on two or three hours earlier.
When are subscribers going to be able to pay online (also promised at the September town hall meeting)?
Why is the Fox channel a local network and not the national version? I don’t really care about the weather or crime in San Diego.
Why can’t Mediatti send out announcements about changes, imminent cable work or other pertinent information inside the billing statements? Counting on subscribers to hear the information on AFN Radio is foolish. Plus, is that AFN Radio’s job?
Why isn’t Nickelodeon live anymore? …”
This isn’t the first letter of its kind that has appeared in the Stars and Stripes about this issue. All I have to say is this. No one should be this stressed out over cable channels. 10 years ago there were only a couple AFN channels and AFN Radio. Probably even more recent than 10 years ago as well! This lady any everyone else out there should realize this and be happy. Instead of sitting on her butt and/or sitting her kids in front of the TV all day she should get up and go for a walk, take her kids to the park, go to the gym, whatever it takes because staring at the TV all day long is unhealthy let alone getting high blood pressure over missing/added channels and faulty channel guides.
Another complaint is over gas prices on Okinawa bases and whether or not they go along with the national average. To add fuel to the fire, Stars and Stripes printed a front-page article entitled, “Rising gas prices fueling the ire of AAFES customers in Japan, Okinawa”. The objective of this article was to inform the public as to why we are paying $2.00 per gallon at the pump when the national average is $1.85. Supposedly the price at the pumps should, by contract, reflect the national average. Instead, readers of this article will no doubt see red when they learn that our friends up at Sasebo Naval Base, Japan are paying 20 cents less at the pump. I’m looking forward to the opinion section for the rest of this week. In a recent post I mentioned that San Francisco gas prices have been from $1.75-$2.00 from as far back as 1996 even though it was far from the national average at the time of $136.86 according to http://www.cnn.com/US/9606/09/gas.prices/ . Today in California the average is $2.15. If you drive off-base in Japan you pay by the liter. Figure in 102 yen to the liter and 1 gallon is almost 4 liters so you wind up paying about $3.75 a gallon. As I’ve said before, those who complain about AAFES gas prices probably don't veture off base too often to realize this. I’m sure if they did they would still compain. I say we have it good. Besides, any extra money that goes to AAFES from gas fees goes back into the military community to sponsor free events. Last year AAFES donated 67% or $229,000,000 of their total revenues to such activities as base improvement, concerts and other commnuity get-togethers. Being that AAFES is such a high-profile corporation I’m sure their numbers are meticulously accounted for and I seriously doubt a scam is in place.
On the other hand I can understand why people get their feathers ruffled. Many of us have been overseas for a number of years now and it is kind of like living in a bubble because unless you travel back to the States on vacation a lot, inflation can seem to sneak up out of nowhere. That plus the war in Iraq is killing petrolium supplies. Even clothing seems more expensive than ever but it feels unnatural because on base, inside of the AAFES bubble we buy cheap/discounted clothing tax-free. Then we go online and can barely buy a decent, cute name brand outfit for under $100. Still…we have it good, you know?
Opinion pages in the newspapers are a wonderful thing and rather pointed in this day and age of taking out the Taliban and other such terrorists who believe, among other things, that freedom of speech is an atrocity. With that said, it is amazing how many spoiled, closed-minded people are currently living on Okinawa. I spent 8 years in the Marine Corps and got out as a Sergeant. Granted I was never stationed overseas but regardless I don’t remember ever hearing so much complaining coming out of both spouses AND military personnel. In fact if I remember correctly, one of the first things we learned was to be happy for what we have when times are tough so that you can appreciate luxuries such as regular meals and not MREs, laundry facilities and even being able to own a car live in better quarters as you progress in rank.
In 2005 life in Okinawa is good. We have 65 cable channels, dial-up or ADSL Internet access depending on which base you live on, countless NCO, Staff NCO and Officer Clubs with good amenities, plenty of other on-base restaurants including the highest grossing Chili’s in the world. There are all sorts of opportunities for higher learning as well as classes to acquaint yourself with Japanese culture and the countryside itself. Off-base there are scores of parks with roller slides that go for days (I will find and post a picture because they are too cool), Americanized eateries such as A&W and Tony Roma’s and more excellent Japanese fare (go figure) than you know what to do with. There are 2 zoos that I know of, plenty of American-like malls (minus the hefty American sizes) and millions of other establishments that were designed for hours of fun with your friends and family. What could there be to complain about? You would be surprised.
The opinion page in our newspaper, Stars and Stripes, is littered with complaints regarding gas prices, AFFES policies, lack of cable internet in all areas and lack of cable channels on television. They (mostly the spouses) have driven me to the point where I want to scream because they are so spoiled and clueless! Last week one lady wrote in complaining about our cable. Except for the stations that are live via satellite (Discovery Channel, TLC, History Channel and the AFN channels just to name a few) the rest of our programming has a 2 week VHS tape delay while Americable was running the show. They were fired recently and Mediatti has taken over. We still have a two week delay but they use DVDs in stead of VHS tapes. We lost a couple channels including PBS and a Live Singapore Nick Toons channel, but we gained Bravo, FX and a couple other channels. Last week a lady wrote into the opinion column with a long complaint about our cable not being good enough…an excerpt follows:
“…
Since Mediatti seems to think that the only way to communicate with its customers is through local media outlets, I have some questions:
During the September Camp Foster town hall meeting, the Mediatti representative said A&E would be back in the channel lineup soon. When?
Why is there still a Japanese voiceover on the BBC during the evening?
Why does the program guide (Channel 2) still have missing channels?
When changes are made, why are they not listed on Channel 2?
How come the weekly television guide in Stars and Stripes still has many channels (USA, TNT, Bravo) not listed [in the program guide]?
Why are some channels on Mountain Time, as opposed to the advertised “West Coast” Pacific Time? This means that when a show says it will be on at 11 p.m., it is on two or three hours earlier.
When are subscribers going to be able to pay online (also promised at the September town hall meeting)?
Why is the Fox channel a local network and not the national version? I don’t really care about the weather or crime in San Diego.
Why can’t Mediatti send out announcements about changes, imminent cable work or other pertinent information inside the billing statements? Counting on subscribers to hear the information on AFN Radio is foolish. Plus, is that AFN Radio’s job?
Why isn’t Nickelodeon live anymore? …”
This isn’t the first letter of its kind that has appeared in the Stars and Stripes about this issue. All I have to say is this. No one should be this stressed out over cable channels. 10 years ago there were only a couple AFN channels and AFN Radio. Probably even more recent than 10 years ago as well! This lady any everyone else out there should realize this and be happy. Instead of sitting on her butt and/or sitting her kids in front of the TV all day she should get up and go for a walk, take her kids to the park, go to the gym, whatever it takes because staring at the TV all day long is unhealthy let alone getting high blood pressure over missing/added channels and faulty channel guides.
Another complaint is over gas prices on Okinawa bases and whether or not they go along with the national average. To add fuel to the fire, Stars and Stripes printed a front-page article entitled, “Rising gas prices fueling the ire of AAFES customers in Japan, Okinawa”. The objective of this article was to inform the public as to why we are paying $2.00 per gallon at the pump when the national average is $1.85. Supposedly the price at the pumps should, by contract, reflect the national average. Instead, readers of this article will no doubt see red when they learn that our friends up at Sasebo Naval Base, Japan are paying 20 cents less at the pump. I’m looking forward to the opinion section for the rest of this week. In a recent post I mentioned that San Francisco gas prices have been from $1.75-$2.00 from as far back as 1996 even though it was far from the national average at the time of $136.86 according to http://www.cnn.com/US/9606/09/gas.prices/ . Today in California the average is $2.15. If you drive off-base in Japan you pay by the liter. Figure in 102 yen to the liter and 1 gallon is almost 4 liters so you wind up paying about $3.75 a gallon. As I’ve said before, those who complain about AAFES gas prices probably don't veture off base too often to realize this. I’m sure if they did they would still compain. I say we have it good. Besides, any extra money that goes to AAFES from gas fees goes back into the military community to sponsor free events. Last year AAFES donated 67% or $229,000,000 of their total revenues to such activities as base improvement, concerts and other commnuity get-togethers. Being that AAFES is such a high-profile corporation I’m sure their numbers are meticulously accounted for and I seriously doubt a scam is in place.
On the other hand I can understand why people get their feathers ruffled. Many of us have been overseas for a number of years now and it is kind of like living in a bubble because unless you travel back to the States on vacation a lot, inflation can seem to sneak up out of nowhere. That plus the war in Iraq is killing petrolium supplies. Even clothing seems more expensive than ever but it feels unnatural because on base, inside of the AAFES bubble we buy cheap/discounted clothing tax-free. Then we go online and can barely buy a decent, cute name brand outfit for under $100. Still…we have it good, you know?
Comments