Stage Two: Anger

The five stages of grief and loss (the Kübler-Ross model); denial, anger, bargaining, depression and then acceptance, are by no means linear.  We move in and out of these stages throughout the process and I have been finding myself returning to the second stage; anger quite often lately.  I am told this is actually a good sign, that among other things it indicates that my self-esteem is still intact.

However, anger is not a good feeling to experience, yet I understand that it is fuel for my fire.  Essentially I need to experience a feeling of justice; I need the entity responsible for my situation, life in a wheelchair at age 40, to not be me anymore. 

The response I got from Comcast was a letter dated December 29, 2011, included some of the following statements, “As a result of late notification of the incident, it is impossible at this point for Comcast to conduct an investigation…” and “…the other vehicle was not owned by Comcast, but rather by Merchants Rent-A-Car.”  The worst statement, “…based upon your failure to report this incident in a timely manner…”

Just as a reminder for those who have not been following my story, in 2005 a Comcast truck, a large vehicle with the logo Comcast on all visible surfaces, hit me from behind.  However, the registration information indicated that the owner of the vehicle was Merchants and that Comcast leased vehicles from them.  I am very familiar with this process as while I was managing a group home, the vans we used for the programs were leased through Merchants as well.  This leaves me with the question, is this a way for Comcast to protect themselves from being sued?

Angrier than ever I must find a way to achieve some form of justice.  At this point I am not real clear on how to accomplish this goal.  I know what I cannot do.  I cannot sue them for monetary damages.  I cannot break the law to obtain my justice, not that this didn’t cross my mind briefly.  I cannot count on the Ambassador for Humanity Award recipient for 2011, the Comcast CEO, to express any humanity toward me based on the letter I received from them.

My current thoughts include:

~Is there really something to investigate regarding the use of rental services, or possibly subcontractors, to protect Comcast from being sued?  Or is this my mind reaching for alternative routes toward justice?

~Could I lobby for changes to the discovery rule as it applies to torts in Massachusetts and statutes of limitations in order to protect future individuals who find themselves in similar situations such as mine?  This would be hard to say the least and does not present high hopes for success either.

~Could I stage a “sit-in” to bring light to the truth of my story?  I can sit very well.

Keep telling myself that I will know what to do when the time comes to do something.  Right now I am realizing I have no idea where this journey is taking me.  My body is broken, that is a fact, but what my brain is capable of in order to solve the justice puzzle, is the variable of focus at this point.