Saturday, October 24, 2015

Angry Clients

In the halfway house business one must have thick skin, like a rhinoceros.

When clients get discharged from TLC they're likely say to anything to deflect blame for their lack of success.

They'll call the city, the state, or the county. And tell them most anything to have inspectors come to our properties. We have bugs. We serve rotten food. Toilets don't flush. We've come to expect it. In fact, we welcome it, because it makes better operators. It keeps us on our toes.

But sometimes we come under even more slanderous, personal attacks. A few years ago a client who left said he and I were using heroin together. A quick drug test proved that to be a lie.

And one I hadn't heard before popped up a few days ago. A client who was with us in 2007 told another halfway house operator that she and I were recently having an affair. She even had a story about a two day trip she and I took to Las Vegas. The only thing is, it never happened.

Not only did it not happen - I wouldn't recognize this person if she walked into the room right now.

There are things I don't do today. I don't drink or use drugs. And I don't cheat on the woman I love.

And, in spite of everything, I’ll continue to help addicts get clean and sober.  Both the grateful and the ungrateful.