Ugly Rich Man

Today, I was backed into a corner and yelled at for 30 minutes by a man who owns tens of millions of dollars and contracts his vessel to the US Navy.

His name is Al. I'd never met him before but, according to the contracting officer I spoke with after the fact, she was surprised that he was so awful - even concerned for his physical health. He'd always been so lovely to her.

Of course he had. Why on earth would he bite the hand that feeds him?

The issue revolves around food. Specifically, the food that is given to Africans during training.

There is a strange and disgusting world view that I frequently encounter: that any problem, large or small, that arises during an engagement in Africa, is a booger that can be wiped off on the "condition" of working in Africa. It's only Africa, afterall. Were you expecting us to bring our A game?

So when African students complain about the quality of food that they're given, people say, "They should be grateful for what we give them."

Because it's Africa and nobody's supposed to notice when you're exploiting them. All I can say is: if an African can't eat the food, then its really inedible.

Never mind that the ship is given a fixed sum of money to feed the students (and can pocket the change when the meals are cheap). Somehow, the African students never manage to get the same food that is fed on the mess-decks: the food that the crew eats.

In July, we had a meeting with the Ship's crew and with the trainers and the coordinating staff: a "Hotwash" to identify issues with the mission. This discrepancy was brought up. The captain violently denied that there was a problem. The instructors starting keeping records. They passed the information to me. It looked something like this:

Day 1: Crew Meals A & B. Student Meal: C  Mismatch? Yes.
Day 2: Crew Meals  D & E. Student Meal: C. Mismatch? Yes.
Day 3: Crew Meals F & G: Student Meal: H. Mismatch? Yes.

and so on... you get the picture.

I passed the information to the appropriate people. I assumed that the "reasonable man" approach would be taken and the behavior would change.

Then this ugly rich man backs me into a corner today, and began an attack that does not stop for nearly 30 minutes. Apparently, the ship's Captain had received an e-mail message this morning with instructions on having "fair meals" between the mess decks and the classrooms.

Al is upset. He wants to know what the issue is. I give him a brief overview of the hotwash. Why hasn't he heard about it until now? He tells me that "any issues should be addressed through  the appropriate channels" (the irony being that he was addressing THIS issue through an inappropriate channel). I believe that the issue had been addressed during the hotwash and I tell Al that his people had been present and were well aware of the concern. I tell him that the minutes of the hotwash and the lessons learned had been shared. I recommend that the appropriate fix is to ensure equality
in the meals.

Then the Captain jumps in and insists that "all the meals are equal and have always been equal". I mention that the instructors had tracked the meals that were served on the mess decks vice the meals served in the classrooms and that this was not true.

At this, the rich man's head nearly pops off his shoulders and goes hissing around the room in a big ball of fire. He accuses me of "opening an investigation", and asks why I am "interrogating his staff" and notes that I had been "very interested in the engine room" (I was dragged along on a ship's tour yesterday and couldn't give a damn about the engine room. I presume he's accusing me of being a spy). I try to diffuse the situation and explain my role on the ship (training the Staff to conduct assessments).

I tell him that I need to get back to my job, but he continues his tirade for several more minutes. It becomes clear to me that, whatever the real issue is, I'm not going to find it out, and that I'm not in a position to fix or diffuse anything.

He will not let me go. He blocks my way. He yells at me until I repeatedly tell him that I will not speak with him further about this and that he would need to talk to my boss. I tell him that he is being inappropriate and ask him to leave me alone.   

I think he expected me to be ignorant or easily manipulated. But I am always armed with more than enough knowledge and I tend to be just pissed off enough to fight back.