Damn it!! I know when these frakking pictures were taken! I swear to Ole FatAss Himself, I do!! (aka Santa update numero 3)

That's right boys and girls, the Santa picture fiasco saga continues! We have the same cast of bumbling characters, but with a new level of "constant" communication between myself and one person in particular, with the same familiar head scratching, "what-the-fuck!!" outcries I've come to know and "love" during this whole debacle. 
You may recall, from the last Santa update blog, that there was finally an interested party who had informed me that photos were taken on a "full memory card" and that this person was going to do everything in her power to get some answers. Well, the emails from her today are anything less than hopeful. I'm  going to share them in their entirety, because something need to be read as a whole.....I'll also post my reply, because it's very rare that I remember entire details like I have memorized from this day. (I'll be totally honest here, I barely remember my wedding day or what I did last Monday. But the events from December 11th around 5:45pm, I've got a pretty airtight memory...this will prove to be QUITE important.)


**I should also mention I emailed this person on Feb 1st because I had not heard from her by her own personally set deadline. She emailed me back, apologizing that her entire household had been ill and she had not had time to further look into the matter but had not forgotten. Just in case someone was wondering, this is not the first time I'd heard from her since January.**


I give you, the emails:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good morning Mrs. Wilcox-Ball,


I am e-mailing you to ask a few questions to help me in my search. You stated that you had your pictures done on  December 11th, right? You also stated that you received a candy cane, right? I am just trying to narrow down the time frame and picture search. But am a little confused because we didn't give out anything with pictures. I looked at the calendar and that was actually the first weekend we were involved in the pictures. That is also the same night that AFN's camera cards filled up and we spent an hours trying to figure out what we were going to do. The BX tried to help by transferring photos to something else to free up some space so we could continue taking pictures. I am not sure what happen and I know that Coz told them not to delete any photos but, I wasn't back there with them (Coz and the BX associates) so I have no idea what happen. While we were waiting I bought batteries and took a few with my camera and we let parents take their own using their camera's and phones. By any chance, are you one of those parents that took the photos using your own camera or your cell phone? I know we had a lot of people taking their own and we actually closed early that night due to not being able to take anymore pictures using AFN's camera.
 Any info you can give me about that evening will help me in my search.
Thank you and have a blessed day.


Enter my reply (remember those details I mentioned???):
Hello Ms R, 



Yes, we had my son's photos taken Sunday December 11th at the BX. We arrived just a few moments before 6pm, probably between 545pm and 6pm (which I remember because we had to rush leaving the house as my son had taken a later than usual nap and I didn't want to miss getting his picture taken that weekend, since my husband works every other weekend so the next weekend we'd have a chance to do it as a family would be Christmas Eve). There was one other family in front of us when we got there.
No one had suggested we use our own camera, I'd have happily done so if someone had suggested so. 
My son got a small candy cane, before leaving, I'm not sure if it was from Santa or someone else my husband took it since we had not had dinner yet. 
My son was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, with white long-sleeves underneath. He had on dark green pants and black sneakers. His teddy bear, which was in the photos with him, is also white and about 11 inches tall. 
**There was someone named Tyler there, who was sitting on Santa's lap just before my son. He was one of the high school students and it seemed they were just goofing around at the end of the day. 
I hope this help, this is pretty much everything I remember from that day. I do know for sure it was Sunday the 11th and it was around 545pm that we were there. 
With regards, 


Finally her reply back to my email:

Good day Mrs Wilcox-Ball,

Thank you so much!

I will keep you posted. I have AFN looking into it and their higher ups are following up. It was their understanding that all photos were uploaded so MSgt Prince has CC'd Cpl Helen to chime in. I was told that they are going to have to review all the info.

I promise to stay on top of this.

Thank you again!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Now, according to her first email, we were never there. We never had our photos with Santa and this is all a mistake, right?? Because according to her, the whole thing closed early on the 11th. So if that's the case, how come I just handed her an entire plate of details for the night of the 11th on a silver platter?? 
  And by the way, MSgt Prince was the one who was supposed to contact her about my complaint in the first place! Funny how SHE contacted HIM and now HE's got someone else looking into it. Because from what he told me in the email, he had nothing to do with this event.....
   I'm sadly very convinced I'll never see those photos of Nixon and I'll, at the most, get a very "sincere apology" and be assured "it will never happen again". 


  But that won't get MY pictures back!! 


Santa....I know you're not a figment of my imagination, I know my family saw you on December 11th and Nixon had his pictures taken with you. I only wish other people would stop trying to convince me I'm the crazy one and fighting a non-existent battle!  

pssst.....it's another Santa update

You may or may not recall my line in the sand, my numerous complaints about Nixon's missing Santa pictures and the lack of action I was getting from all parties involved. Well, last weekend while Mac was working I got bored and decided since it was becoming very obvious that a certain MSgt was NOT going to put me in touch with the president of the booster club, I would put myself in touch with the school instead. I did some searching, found the email addresses for the principal and 2 vice principals and sent them all this email: 


Dear Sir (and Ma'am), 

    My name is Rebecca and I'm writing this email in an effort to find my own resolution to the issues resulting from the photos with Santa at the Kadena Base Exchange during the month of December. I found your emails on the Kadena High School webpage, I hope this is the correct school that was fundraising at this event. 

   My husband and I took our 3 year old son to the BX just before 6pm on December 11th, to get his photo taken with Santa. We were the last ones for the night, our son was coaxed into sitting with Santa by Santa playfully having my son's teddy bear sit with him first (which was very much appreciated by myself, I assure you!). My husband made the donation while I was handed a small sheet of paper with information for a photobucket album and password, and was told the photos would be available for viewing and downloading in 2-3 days. My son got a candy cane and we left happy to have gotten this done with time to spare before Christmas, for the family back home to see. 

   Except the photos of my son never showed up. I posted on the AFN facebook page, inquiring about the status of the photos as did multiple other parents, with no response. I sent an ICE to the BX for hosing the event but not having any contact info for the club raising the money or the people actually posting the photos. I got a response that said they'd look into it and get back to me, I never had any further emails from them. After a post I'd written was deleted from the AFN wall but not responded to, I sent an ICE form about AFN and their handling of the situation. I was contacted the next day by a MSgt Prince, informing me that it was a booster club function and he would forward my complaint to booster club president. That was January 4th and I (again) have received no further contact from anyone. 

   This is a poor reflection on all parties involved. It reflects badly on the school for using such an iconic figure as Santa to raise money, but have no responsibility in the distribution of the photos they were taking while raising their money. It reflects poorly on the BX because they'll allow 2 groups (AFN and booster club) to collaborate for an event like this but not have any contact info to give in the event of a dispute or other issue that has nothing to do with the BX in any manner at all, since the simply offered a place for the photos to be taken, which would be convenient to all. And finally, it's a poor reflection on AFN and how they handle the numerous complaints and inquiries about the photos by parents. Photos with Santa are a once-a-year event, and being on Okinawa options are limited. I still do not have these photos and it was the first year my son was excited to see Santa! I can't get that moment back and it doesn't seem I can get anyone who understands and/or is willing offer an explanation for why the photos aren't to be found (to-date there are 1929 photos in the online album, I've looked at every photo numerous times), if there were any unusable and who exactly is responsible for uploading these photos/when they will be uploaded. (The most recent group was uploaded after the January 1st) 

   At this point, it's not just about the photos. It's about the principle that the photos have come to stand for. I took my son and made a donation to a local booster club, in exchange for his photo with Santa. Unfortunately, no one can tell me what happened to his photos or even who exactly is responsible for them.

Thank you for your time. 

I took into account that I sent these emails over a holiday weekend (MLK Jr Day), but imagine my utter and total amazement when I got had this email waiting for me Tuesday morning:

Good Morning,

  I have been out of the building this week and will see what I can find out.  I am sorry for this but will see if I can find out who was in charge of this and where those photos are.  Thank you for letting me know. 

T G

Principal

HOLY SHIT ON A STICK.....SOMEONE APOLOGIZED!!! I could almost careless about any further follow-up, I was given what appears to be a real genuine apology!! But wait....it gets better!! I got ANOTHER email from someone else, and hold on to your seats, this one is a real fucking doozy and it really makes me question the Public Affairs Dept of AFN here on Okinawa and the way they do shit. (I'm not kidding, if anyone has done PA work before, prepared to be disgusted!)

The final and by far most disturbing email about this whole Santa at the BX saga:

Good morning Mrs. Wilcox,

Let me start out by introducing myself and apologising for the situation you have been place in. My name is S R and I am the President of Kadena High School's Project Graduation Class of 2012. I received your e-mail yesterday from Dr. Paul in reference to the Santa Pictures.

This event was sponsored by the Kadena BX (they provided the Santa Suit, place, time, advertisement and chair with back drop). AFN was the organization that was slotted to do this event and did so Saturday only of Thanksgiving weekend. Due to unforeseen circumstances, AFN backed out and we were asked to fill in. We, the Project Graduation Board, Seniors and Parents quickly gathered a list of volunteers to help the BX out in a tough spot and it was helping us raise financial aid extremely needed to provide a safe, drug and alcohol free event for the graduating Class of 2012. A few days before we started our part in this event, I received an e-mail that AFN did not want to step down and that there was a miss-communication and was asked if we could some how work together. After already having our seniors and parents in place we agreed to go a head and team up with AFN and split the funds. Project Graduation provided the body in the Santa Suit and the Elves. AFN took the photo's and were responsible for down loading all to their website. I myself took a few photos for our year book with my own personal camera and had to take a few of customers due to AFN's card filling up. Out of the photo's I have, there are no single children, they all have siblings. If your photo was that of him by himself and then one with his sister (if you have a daughter) it might be one that I still have copies off. I am not sure about the others and have no access to them other than what was provided to you as well. The website that was handed out was that of AFN's and was provided by them. Project Graduation nor the BX are administrators of their website.

I promise you I will do what I can to look into this. I, nor our school or any of it's organization do business this way. We take great pride in all we do and for us,"children come first!" This was the first contact of any sort that I have received about this situation and had I known before now, would have been working on it. I myself have 5 children and know how important those firsts are! I truly understand the frustration on your part and hope I am able to do something to help. I am going to CC the BX Manager that was in charge of this event. I don't know what help she will be able to provide. Trust me when I say, "this will never happen again where we are concerned!"

Again, I am truly sorry for the frustration. If you ever need anything from us you can reach me at xxx xx xxxxx . As I said before, I will look into this and get back to you by the end of next week with my findings.

Take care and have a blessed week!

V/r,
S L R
President, KDHS Project Graduation 2012




So I feel like someone finally cares about getting to the bottom of this, but how many families might never see those pictures because the memory card was full?? Why wouldn't someone just say something, instead of "taking" photos that weren't being saved? I'll never get those photos back if that's really what happened, and given that we took Nixon at the end of the day I have a BAD feeling that is exactly what happened and why NO one is willing to tell me where his pictures are....because there are NO pictures of him! 


Look forward to another Santa update when I learn the final outcome! And pray to Goddess I see my son's pictures with Santa. Otherwise....I will leave my mark on Okinawa! You do not fuck with a family's Santa pictures! You just don't! 

Please sir, can I just get my Karma back?

**alternative title: Can't anyone just tell me.....WHERE ARE MY FUCKING SANTA PICTURES?!?!?!**


I couldn't decide which title I liked better, so I'm giving you both. And yes, this post is coming in the first week of January and it is really about Santa pictures. Not just any Santa pictures, these are becoming the Holy fucking Grail of Santa pictures, sought after by many Okinawa military parents and very hard to find! I, myself, am currently elbows deep in complaints on facebook pages, filing actual complaints with multiple sources "responsible" for these photos, getting shitty "not my department" responses, and inches from finding the jolly ole fake fat ass and demanding an immediate re-staging of the Santa photo and a line up of the assholes who can't or rather won't answer a simple well asked (re: I did not curse at ALL, when I posted on the facebook page inquiring where or when I might see Nixon's photos with Santa) inquiry BUT who do take the time to delete it off the wall, so that I might shove a boot up all their asses and then assist them with the GIANT lump of coal they've all earned!


Now, I know this seems a small and petty thing to get bent out of shape about, but I'll explain why I'm so livid, beyond the obvious reason of not having a photo of Nixon with Santa to show for my/Mac's donation to an on-base high school booster club and the total pass-the-blame game the parties involved are playing with me. Seriously?? I never liked being the "pickle" of pickle-in-the-middle. It annoyed me and really gave rise to my Napoleon Complex.


Here's the story (sorry 'bout your luck if you've heard this all before):
   Dec. 11th Mac and I took Nixon to the Base Mall to get his picture with Santa. Yes, we did get there with about 5 minutes to spare before Santa left for the day. Nixon sat on Santa's lap with some coaxing from Santa and BeBe, about 3-5 photos where taken at the time (trust me I counted the clicks and flashes from the camera). Mac made a donation in the donation box, Nixon got his candy cane, and I got a slip of paper that had the photobucket site info and password needed to view the photos and was told they'd be uploaded for viewing in 2-3 days. 


   Dec 13th- 16th no new photos are uploaded.
   Dec 17th there's about 300 new pics uploaded, total pictures around 950'ish. (No Nixon)
   Dec 19th I post on the facebook page inquiring about new photos to be posted, looking for photos from the weekend prior. No response from the admin of the page, but a few other parents comment they also are looking for the same weekend. 
   Dec 25th I look, there's now over 1200 pictures, still no Nixon. 
    Dec 29th, I file a complaint with the store which hosted Santa & the high school booster club, explaining I felt it was bad customer service to host an event like that and not have any point of contact for which to help guests resolve issues with, since the group responsible for posting the photos is ignoring several attempts to find out when the photos would be posted for viewing. It was irresponsible to have so many groups involved but no chain of contact in the event there's an issue like this. The response? 
"Dear Patron,
 We  understand your frustration and apologize.  The Exchange hosted Santa Claus for the community, with only good gestures in mind.  We have contacted AFN regarding the photos for Santa and we are trying to have the issue resolved quickly and efficiently.  The Exchange does not have access to the AFN Facebook page, as far as answering comments being posted.  That page belongs to AFN exclusively.  We are working this problem in hopes of a quick resolution."
   Dec 31 now 1715 pictures, still no Nixon. I spend 3 hours looking at every single photo multiple times for Nixon, no Nixon. I comment on another mother's post on the facebook page, also asking where the photos are and why there are no new ones....the post and all comments are deleted. No response ever given.
   Two days ago I write a long (no cussing) post on the facebook page again, expressing my deep disappointment with the whole Santa at the BX (base mall) photo situation and the lack of response to the parents STILL looking for their children's photos, including myself. It was removed from the page, no response, by the next morning. But the photobucket album has a total of now 1929 photos in it now. Still no Nixon. 
   Yesterday, I file another complaint with AFN regarding the facebook page and the actual photobucket album photos. I copy and pasted the exact message I had put on the facebook wall. (Now I will put it here: I'm seriously disappointed with the Santa at the BX photos and all the hassle that has come along with trying to see the photos. 
I took my son on Sunday Dec 11th, just a couple minutes before 6pm. I've posted here more than once inquiring about those photos, I've looked at all 1715 photos (to date) and have not seen my son's photos with Santa, nor have I gotten a response about when I might expect to see those photos posted. 


There are very few moments where I can say I truly regret making a donation to any cause, but this is one of those times. Kadena BX hosted the event but they aren't responsible for how the photos are distributed/published. The donations were collected for the kadena high school (if I'm not mistaken) but they're not responsible for hosting the event or publishing the photos in a timely manner. WAVE89/AFN Okinawa is in charge of publishing or releasing the photos, but its been far from a timely manner and unless there's an issue with accessing the photobucket album, there's been no real response to any of the numerous parental complaints/inquires/concerns about these photos. 


Being on Okinawa limits many families choices as to where and when they could get the photo with Santa taken. Many chose to make a donation and do it at the BX we all shop at throughout the year, and now many of us are left without that photo and we're getting no answers as to when or if we'll ever see those photos. 


This was the first year my son was excited to see Santa and if it weren't for a member of the community having Santa at her house one night, I'd have no photos of my son with him at all, despite my taking him 2 weeks before Christmas to the BX and visiting Santa. 


This is a very poor reflection of AFN and how they handle public relations with the community, especially such a once-a-year event as photos with Santa.)
   Today, I received an email  about my complaint from yesterday. Good quick response, really shitty resolution: "Ma’am,
This was a booster club function.  I’ll let the booster club president engage."


So, basically.....???? Yeah, I got nothing too. 


It's not the photos at this point. It's not the fact that Nixon sat with Santa in a store. It's the fact that a donation was made for a service and the service has yet to be provided. It'd be like going to a car wash, making the donation for the car wash and then having the people running the car wash tell you that some other group is responsible for the water and buckets and soap, except you don't find this out until you've been sitting there for a few hours AFTER the carwash has closed shop and left. Well, its not exactly like that, but it's the best I've got right now. You get the picture. (they can't all be x-mas tree blog analogy's of gold)
I normally don't bitch about making a donation, but fuck me over sideways if this doesn't rub me the wrong way! The high school used a well known and iconic holiday figure to draw a crowd and raise money for their club, which is fine. BUT, if they're not accountable for the distribution of the photos they basically got money for free, right? I mean, the parents are getting told AFN (the local radio/tv station/public relations here) was putting the photos online in the photobucket album, which means the booster club has no physical contact or control of the photos, correct? So what would the Booster Club President be able to tell me? That he/she will get in touch with his/her contact at AFN and see what this issue is?  


Am I getting extra Karma points for this? Because it feels like a lot of hassle and runaround for zero results. And really, removing a post without responding to the complaint? Why even have a board the public can contact you on in the first place??


Okinawa.....you're really pushing my buttons. Seriously?!?!? Fucking Santa pictures!! THIS is my line in the sand?!?!?