I flinched when this started happening in the late 90's
Imagine the pc, me, you, whomever. The pc has run the gauntlet of the routing form. Luckily, it hasn't taken more than a day to complete. The person signing it off is easy on you only because they are busy with something else more pressing. At nearly every step of the way this pc has to confront the incomprehensible situation of staff not really wanting them there, not unless there's money changing hands or a completion to record. Otherwise, looking at your smiling face is just Dev-T.
But these days you get a DofP interview followed with a sales pitch to buy the basic books package. Your visit to the E/O provides another opportunity to buy the basic books. You see the IAS reg, WISE rep, I-Help rep, Super Power building reg, Ideal Org reg, SO recruiter and so on. Each push the basic book package plus the vested interest of their post title.
Finally the pc makes it into session.
Back in the day where I audited, the routing was simple: Registrar to DofP, DofP interviews then sends pc to DTS for scheduling, auditor meets and greets, then delivers the goods. The organizational gauntlet was minimal. The gauntlet the pc needed to run, and dissolve, was the life gauntlet.
This is the auditor theme song, from Sweeney Todd: It could also be the family theme song:
Anyway, just imagine that you have run the gauntlet then you are greeted by a person with this attitude:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY3KSWInJBA&feature=related
Nice comment Ted! The first time I ran into this horror zone was my last trip to Flag in February of 1999. On my previous trip in 1992, this bullshit was not in place yet. My thoughts were as follows:
1. Don't they know that I scraped up the last dime I have to get the $20K together to come here and get my case handled?
2. Instead of paying all this money on Wise and various Building Projects and Narconon, shouldn't I use my funds to get my training and processing and move to the top of the Bridge? After all, that is the reason I was sold for becomming involved in the first place.
You would tell this to the reg and they would want to see your credit cards. They would take your card into a back room and come out and announce proudly that they raised your credit limit by $3,000. You would thank them and then they would reg you for the $3,000 so you could apply it to the Super Power Building. After a lengthy and stressful battle, you outlast the reg and refuse to pay the $3,000. Finally you are routed through to the D of P. Whatever happens, happens. For me, I was not allowed to get in session because I was taking prescription drugs. I flew back home and felt secure that at least I had $3,000 more on my credit card so I was not fully broke yet.
SURPRISE - When my credit card bill came, there was a $3,000 charge to the Flag Service Org. I called the bank and contested the charge and got it reversed. The next Friday, a day after the Thursday at 2:00 PM cut off, I got a call from the FBO at Flag. I was threatened with expulsion if I did not "repay" the Org the $3,000 I cheated them out of. I was very firm and told the FBO that I never approved this charge, was never consulted and never signed anything. He demanded I send him a full report which I did by certified mail and I never heard from him again.
I decided right there on the spot that I would never go to Flag again and put myself into such a vulnerable situation where I was at their mercy.
HUBBARD GREEN ON WHITE IN ACTION - SCREW YOUR MOST LOYAL AND ABLE MEMBERS OUT OF EVERY DIME THEY CAN BORROW BEFORE THURSDAY AT 2:00 PM. GET THE STAT UP FOR THAT ONE WEEK, don't do any future planning just make it go right and worry about each week as it comes up. If your stat goes down even one week, you are downstat and lose your day off.
These policies just reek! It is all total bullshit!! It leads to the resignation of the most able and ethical members and an ARC broken field. Those members who remian are usually good natured and kind hearted but they are for the most part simply robots, going through various motions without realizing what they are doing.
You can see the End Product of these type of policies by driving by the Orange County Org as I do often. The building needs paint, the roof needs repair, the shubbery is overgrown with weeds, the lawn is never mowed or edged and the parking lot is virutally empty. More cars belong to the staff than to the people on course or in session.
Nightly, there is a flood of phone calls, all of which I screen and do not answer. They are soliciting funds for the design and furnishing phase of their Ideal Org. They acquired an Ideal Org in 2004 with a $6.5 million funding drivel. I only gave $270, $20 at a Christmas dinner when they kicked off the program and $250 when a couple of reges drove to my house in 2004. Those were the last funds I ever donated to C of S.
Their latest promo states proudly and boldly that "We are Going Ideal in January of 2011!" Whoop de doo! I wish them the best but count me out!
Lakey