In Bay City it’s pay up … or DIE!
January 27, 2009 at 2:33 pm 34 comments
Hey — way to go, Bay City, Michigan Utility Nazis!
Your black-hearted money grubbery at the pinnacle of this New Great Depression now has a body count!
93-year-old Marvin E. Schur died “a slow, painful death” after he fucking FROZE TO DEATH inside his own home — mere days after you limited his use of electricity.
Bay City’s Manager, Robert Belleman said the the city didn’t do anything wrong because the nearly century old human being owed Bay City Electric Light & Power more than $1,000. So, see? They were forced — FORCED I tell you – to freeze him the fuck OUT!
Now, $1,000 in unpaid bills is a lot, I’ll grant you. But at some point during the accrual process wouldn’t you think there’d have been a phone call or, ooo I know – a visit to Mr. Schur’s home to check the sitch???
I mean that would have been easy considering his house is only ONE GODDAMNED MILE FROM THE GODDAMNED UTILITY OFFICE!!!!
Uh huh — a proactive approach — what about it fellas?? Ever think of that???
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Umm, yeah — looks like a big cuppa negatory on that one!
And it’s too bad, because, according to their website, at the close of 2008, Bay City Electric, Light & Power owned and operated utility assets of $64 million with total annual revenues of approximately $25.6 million.
Buuuut, instead of tapping their own admittedly robust resources in fine mistzvah fashion …
or getting really radical and working out some sort of payment plan …
or doing the unthinkable and asking for donations to help the poor old man …
OR – oh hell, just making the smallest of efforts to go that extra smidge and contact folks who, like, help needy elderly people??? (… like, oh I dunno – say, the ones on the list of ‘Agencies and Organizations Providing Emergency Help’ that’s fucking LISTED ON THEIR OWN FUCKING WEBSITE!!! ACK!!!)
Ohhhh no.
Instead of foolin’ with of any of that shit – the Bay City bastards did things another way.
The greedysonofabitchfuckingheartlessasshole way.
They installed a “limiter” device to restrict the use of electricity at the old man’s home …
… in the middle of WINTER …
… in MICHIGAN!
The nifty little device limits the power coming into a home and, as an added bonus, blows out like a fuse if consumption rises past a set level.
But the best part?
The power doesn’t get restored until the device is reset.
Belleman said city workers keep the limiter on houses for 10 days, then shut off power entirely if the homeowner hasn’t paid utility bills or arranged to do so.
But they didn’t have to do that in Marvin Schur’s case.
NOSIREEEE!!!!
It only took them four days to kill him, instead of the policy-mandated 10.
See, somehow, the limiter was tripped sometime between the January 13 installation and the January 17 discovery of his frozen deadness.
At the time his poor neighbors found him, the temperature inside his house was below 32 degrees and ice had formed in the kitchen and on the inside of his windows.
“It’s not easy to die from hypothermia without first realizing your fingers and toes feel like they’re burning,” said Kanu Virani, Oakland County’s deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy.
Ever the PR machine, Belleman was quick to lay blame smack DAB where you’d expect: On the neighbors!!
“I’ve said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors,” he alibied. “When they think there’s something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department.”
Stay classy Bay City … stay classy
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ACK!!!!!
Entry filed under: blogging, community, culture, Gossip, government, health, life, media, neighborhood, News, newspapers, poverty, unbelievable, Uncategorized. Tags: asshat, associated press, bastard, Bay City, Bay City Michigan, Chicago Tribune, criminal, dead, death, Detroit Free Press, dumbass, freeze, fucker, government, heartless, idiot, internet, kill, lazy, mapquest.com, mean, michigan, moron, murder, News, newspaper, people, property appraiser, random, stupid, thoughts, unfeeling, weather, website, winter, Zillow.com.
Life Is A Cookie 
1.
writechicpress | January 27, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Cookie, I’m gonna write this up, too. Spread the word about the fuckers.
2.
springdaddy | January 27, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Sad sad sad!!! Karma will get them. But it still doesn’t bring back Mr. Schur. RIP.
3.
lifeisacookie | January 27, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Can you believe this shit?!?
If it’s not criminal negligence then, well, I just don’t know!
4.
curious | January 27, 2009 at 5:28 pm
anybody here besides me ever worked for a utility company?
5.
this buddy of mine | January 27, 2009 at 5:35 pm
I grew up not 15 miles from there. It is indicative of the whole mindset of that
citycountyside of the state of Michigan. Anybody who has ever lived there knows it is not capitalism gone amuck, it is the vileness of the people who live there and the pissy attitudes they have concerning the world.“It’s not my fault!” is the mantra of this company, that shithole of a county, and so much more.
6.
lifeisacookie | January 27, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Wow — I think shitty vile assholeness trumps greed — how sad!
7.
lifeisacookie | January 27, 2009 at 6:00 pm
I’ve not worked for one Curious — but please don’t tell me you are going to alibi for them … please don’t.
This is blatantly wrong.
8.
Your Money or Your Life…93-Year-Old Freezes to Death After Power Cut Off « WriteChic Press | January 27, 2009 at 7:52 pm
[…] Your Money or Your Life…93-Year-Old Freezes to Death After Power Cut Off Posted on January 27, 2009 by writechicpress Pay up…or die!!! h/t Cookie! […]
9.
curious | January 27, 2009 at 9:38 pm
oh cookie, i have had to run the same people month after month for utility bills and i understand both sides. where was this man’s family, friends, neighbors? i would like to think someone cared about this man. and it is NOT the power company’s responsibility to check in to see if he was ok. no one is refused power, water, or gas if they make an attemp to contact or even pay a little on their bills. i am sorry for this man’s life but i don’t blame the power co. they are no more at fault than you or me.
10.
lifeisacookie | January 27, 2009 at 9:59 pm
His wife died years ago and they had no children. So that’s a no on that one.
His neighbors did check on him – but a 93 year old won’t make it TWO days in sub-freezing temperatures, let alone the four it ended up being.
But THEY weren’t responsible for limiting and ultimately shutting off the power (via glitch, I know) to an aged person’s home in the Michigan winter.
Ok, so you just want your money – fine, but at least do something proactive, like a payment plan or something until fucking SPRING comes and you can THEN shut him off.
C’mon dude — this is basic human decency and common sense shit here.
Now, I do see your point that it’s not the meter reader’s responsibility to watch after the occupants of the houses on his beat, but if you put a limiter on the guy’s house in the MICHIGAN WINTER then you’d better do checks to be sure that shit didn’t shut off – since we know it can’t be automatically turned back on.
Did anyone check?
No.
Should they have?
Fuck yes.
I know people don’t always listen to the common sense of the guy on foot – I think we learned that with the Caylee Anthony disaster — but fucking try.
Again — this is basic human decency and common sense shit here.
I seriously would have thought common decency or just flat out curiosity and frustration would have caused someone at the utility office to scratch his/her head out and do a WTF over this guy’s bill — then, once it got near super-huge levels, you do a little digging to be — if nothing else — the department hero who figures out what might be going on there.
Seriously — a bill that goes unpaid month after month on such a small house is an eye opener, factor in the dude’s age and that’s a red flag, factor in the time of year wtih that device on the house and that’s a red fucking flag.
Even if you’re just in the auditor’s office or you’re the receiving clerk — you see your non-resolved pile — doesn’t curiosity get the better of anyone on shit like this?!?
Frealz — ‘cuz that whole ‘not my job’ ‘who me’ ‘not my responsibility’ ‘I don’t want to get involved’ crap drives me fucking crazy!
11.
Chris | January 27, 2009 at 11:25 pm
I wonder if he just assumed that all the snow & ice was messing up his electricity. I mean, they apparently have no record of having contacted him to explain the limiter. If they had records of it, they would’ve said “And THIS person told him on THIS date and we explained THIS and THIS and that makes it HIS fault.” instead of “I’m not sure if he was contacted.”
And how much you wanna bet that he had either no phone or a cordless (which requires electricity). No phone, no way to call for help. No way to call the power company. No way to call 911 and tell them you think you’re moments from death.
There’s a reason that the laws are put into place about when you’re allowed to cut off power to a customer. And this right here… this is it. It’s just fucking sickening to think how this man died. I hope the greedy bastards are happy.
12.
writechicpress | January 28, 2009 at 12:33 am
no one is refused power, water, or gas if they make an attemp to contact or even pay a little on their bills
Maybe back in the day this was true, but that’s not how companies roll now. There was a case in Birmingham a few years ago where a mother and son (both mentally retarded and on disability) burned to death in a house fire during a cold snap. They’re power was cut off. The social worker was trying to help get service turned back on. But Alabama Power was all show me the money. In the meantime, the mother and son built a fire inside to keep warm and you know the rest.
You better believe a power company knows statistically how many such deaths can take place before they have to behave differently. R&D keeps all of this in check. One 93 year old won’t do it. A handicapped mom and son burned up won’t do it.
13.
Chris | January 28, 2009 at 1:27 am
WCP, you’re totally right in your argument. They DO turn off power. I know this for a fact (2nd hand info, not own experience) Friend told the power company they could pay $150 of the $500 bill. The company agreed that it would keep their power on until the next billing cycle (at least 10 days away) but within 2 hours of paying the $150, their power was shut off. The power company refused to turn it back on until they had EVERY PENNY of the $500.
14.
curious | January 28, 2009 at 2:35 am
well i will give all you know it all’s first hand info. i worked 5 years for one of the largest rural water systems in al, 1100 miles of distribution throughout elmore county and part of coosa, so i understand more about it than you might think. my brother reads meters for apco for over 20 yrs now and i know for a fact that anyone attempting to pay their bill will not be cut off. the exception may be those who never attempt the settle their bill or those who are on the merry-go-round cut off list every 2 months.
i have had guns and knives pulled on me, pit bulls turned loose on me, fights started with me, tires cut on my truck, equipment vandalized, run off he road and wrecked, baseball bats and steel pipes swung at me, crack heads try to rob me at midnight while i was unlocking a water meter for an ass hole. i used to carry a sawed off 12 guage pump in my company truck.
so don’t pull your pity bullshit on me. i hate the guy died but i will bet the so called reporters and trial lawers tried to make the power co look like cold blooded killers. i doubt any of you would put your life on the line like the linemen do every day. those guys are killed on a regular basis out in the snow, thunder storms, extreme heat working days without sleep getting your power/water back on so your ac works when you go to bed and you have water to wash your nasty ass when you come home. y’all can’t tell me shit when the most hazardus part of your day is getting a paper cut or heart burn from your 3 hr/2 martini lunch break.
i knew somebody who knew somebody shit. i was there. again, how many of you ever worked for utility? especially those who seem to be the experts here?
hey cookie, did you see the HUD settlement i posted?
15.
writechicpress | January 28, 2009 at 2:45 am
Chris, Schur was a veteran, too…which about set my eyes to bleeding after reading that. It just added a whole other lump of sad on tragedy.
And Cookie, know that my site traffic says that people are finding my version of the story mainly through my tag “Robert Belleman Sucks Cocks Wrapped in Money.”
16.
Chris | January 28, 2009 at 3:35 am
I might not know it 1st hand, but I know it 2nd hand, after calling a good friend of mine for over a week with no answer and sending the cops to check on her. And there’s a big diff between no water to wash your ass and no power to keep it from freezing solid.
Kudos to all who brave the weather and the dogs and the shotguns, but that’s their choice to have a job like that. That’s like arguing that it was okay for a cop to shoot an innocent bystander just cuz he’s got a rough job.
How do you know that the veteran wasn’t getting fucked on his bill monthly but just couldn’t prove it and also couldn’t pay it? I know THAT story first hand. I paid an extra $3000+ in the past 3 years to my power company. Do you think they’ve offered any sort of refund? Hell no! But I guarantee you they’d be after my ass quick as shit if I was a month behind in my payment to them.
I’d like to know how one 93 year old man racks up a $1000 bill. How many months had he gone without paying it? Let’s just say his bill was $200 a month. That’s 5 months without paying a bill. Why would a company allow someone to go so long without paying? And why, after that long, did they decide NOW was the time to put an end to it?
17.
Chris | January 28, 2009 at 3:37 am
WCP, don’t get me started on veterans. =D
And LOL @ where your traffic is *ahem* coming from.
18.
curious | January 28, 2009 at 4:29 am
well i don’t know the payment habits of your friend but i’m sure the power co knows. i also have much respect for vets as well. i remember running up tank hill every morning before the sun came up. i also think the mans death was very unfortunate but you can’t put all the blame on the power co. and yes, it is our choice to do the job we do but tell me what each of you honorable and flawless saints do for a living. probably just hiding behind your flat screens.
19.
writechicpress | January 28, 2009 at 6:32 am
Are you like 100 years old curious???
Mr. Schur didn’t pull a gun or knife on you, turn a dog on you, fight you, cut your tires, vandalize you or smoke crack. Good God man! There’s a time and a place, I suppose, to make an argument for the nobility and work ethic of the under-appreciated switch flipper. This isn’t the time and place. Switch flippers don’t determine the ethics and morality of company policy. They fucking flip switches.
20.
Chris | January 28, 2009 at 12:09 pm
WCP – OMG lmao! “They fuckin flip switches”
Curious- No one’s talking saints. Like Cookie said more than once, basic human decency and common sense shit. When you’re told “Don’t go outside because you can die within a matter of minutes because it’s THAT cold” … you don’t shut people’s heat off.
Jobs? Hubby is a truck driver. Without people like him, this country would stop running in a matter of days. I spend all day worrying how many ignorant asses will pull out in front of him or send him flying off of a mountain or like now, send him sliding off the road on the inches of ice he’s driving on. (7 miles in 45 minutes… nice!!)
I don’t hide behind my flat screen. I spend the majority of the day cooking, cleaning, changing shitty diapers, dodging flying toys and puke and teaching my kids “basic human decency and common sense shit” while hoping they won’t be orphaned so that you can have your eggs and milk and ramen noodles, toilet paper to wipe your ass, mac-n-cheese, beer, the faucet your water runs from, the wires that send power to your house, the computer you’re using and that chair you’re sitting on.
21.
lifeisacookie | January 28, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Ladies – I couldn’t have said it better!!!
22.
curious | January 28, 2009 at 2:25 pm
wcp, i am not 100 but i havea hell of a lot better perspective of the utility world than you seem to have. and i wish a shitty diaper was the worst thing i had to deal with every day. ever been into a sewage plant? repaired sewage pumps? that’s all part of the water world my friend. ever been in a substation with 50,000 volts within arms reach?
and by the fucking way, he didn’t do anything to me and i didn’t disconnect his power either. now y’all go out there and enjoy your mindless and cushy day.
23.
curious | January 28, 2009 at 2:26 pm
one more thing, a woman’s place is in the kitchen and the bedroom anyway. you shouldn’t even own a pair of shoes
24.
lifeisacookie | January 28, 2009 at 2:56 pm
CURIOUS!!
You are a contrarian — plain and simple!!
Why do you do that?!? I once theorized it was because you weren’t hugged enough as a child but now I REALLY think it’s just because you want a good ol’ SPANKIN’!!
You love women and you know it and you know WE make life worth living — plain and simple!!
Now BOW BEFORE ME and write ‘I’m sorry for startin’ shit’ 50 times on the blackboard!!!
25.
writechicpress | January 28, 2009 at 3:36 pm
LMAO…i won’t argue about the bedroom, curious. I didn’t get to be a mother of 4 because of virginal proclivities. To everything else…Peace!
26.
curious | January 28, 2009 at 4:31 pm
peace 🙂
27.
Chris | January 28, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Gotta have shoes. Need to take the garbage out and they don’t let you in the grocery store without them.
28.
lifeisacookie | January 28, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Big C — if you were to experience the utter comfort of my signature six-inch lucite hooker heels you’d never go barefoot — let alone ask others to forego the pleasure!
29.
curious | January 29, 2009 at 12:34 am
i had an uncle (uncle buck) that used to have a great selection of high heels and a closet full of dresses that would make any woman jealous. he was a decorated ww2 vet
30.
lifeisacookie | January 29, 2009 at 1:26 am
and would there be pictures?!?
31.
curious | January 29, 2009 at 2:06 am
no pictures but i remember as a kid, he was actually my great uncle, he was in his 50’s with a super hot 20 something young lady, different one every few months, and driving a new caddy. he was a shoe salesman and always had custom tailored suits and italian leather shoes. anything but an al bundy. but anyway, before he died his brother was visiting him and his wife opened a closet door to find a huge collection of dresses. well you know where it went from there. “who is your girlfriend? no girlfriend, then who do all these dresses belong too? you? what are you doing with all the dresses?” uncle buck explained that he always liked women’s clothes and that’s what he wore out to dinner on saturday nights.
uncle buck was always a gentleman’s gentleman. very articulate and never a wrinkle in his clothes or hair out of place. he wore a suit everywhere and treated everyone with the utmost respect. he could charm the horns off a billygoat. super nice man and i miss him.
32.
writechicpress | January 29, 2009 at 3:57 am
I love that story! We have no crossdressers in our family (yet), but my crazy uncle spent the night in jail with comedian Paul Lynn. (My uncle was HUGE and taunted Lynn was threats of rape for shits and giggles. They were both charged with drunk and disorderly conduct.) Ahhhh. Families.
33.
curious | January 29, 2009 at 4:34 am
paul lynn was one of my favorites. he’s right up there with johnathan winters as the funniest (funny ha ha) ever in my book.
34. We interrupt this blog … « Life Is A Cookie | June 22, 2010 at 4:57 pm
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