European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 03, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes Page 11 letters dear Ann Landers i am very close to taking my own life and the guilt is unbearable. I am Only in my 30s and becoming More deaf every Day. My social life has come to Astop because i find it impossible to pretend that i can still  Young son tells me what went on in school and he becomes angry with me because i can thear him. My older boy becomes frustrated and screams Are you deaf can t you hear me calling you my husband thinks it is harder on him and the boys than it is on me. Little does he know the agony and embarrassment i go through. I can t Volunteer at my children s school anymore because i m too embarrassed to show my face. During a recent visit i looked like a Complete fool when i responded inappropriately to a question asked by my son s teacher. I saw an ear surgeon last month who told me about an operation on nerve deafness but unfortunately he does t think it would help me. My hearing Aid is no longer a help. It whistles like crazy because i have it turned up so High. My husband becomes very impatient and yells at me because we cannot communicate. He does t realize that the noise in my ears is driving me insane. At times it is so loud i can t stand it. Please suggest something. I am truly desperate. New York dear new York i called or. George Shambaugh professor emeritus of otolaryngology at Northwestern University medical school. Otolaryngology includes disorders of the ear. He said it sounds As if you have a progressive nerve loss. This sometimes runs in families. There is a possibility that nerve loss can be caused by an allergy or a nutritional deficiency mostly Zinc. He said Yon need to see a doctor Nho knows about allergy and nutrition related deafness. I Hope you will get counselling to help Yon Deal with depression. It is not uncommon for people with hearing problems to become depressed. Your husband should go with you for the first few sessions. He needs to under stand what you Are going through and from your letter it sounds As if he does t have a clue. Dear Ann Landers at 1 15 in the morning the Telephone rang and i was awakened out of a sound sleep to answer it. The opera Tor said your son wants to make a Long distance Call to another number and needs to know if you will pay for  i said of  a dozen horror stories raced through my mind. Where was he at such an hour who could he be Call ing Why could t he pay for the Call himself i called John immediately and awakened him from a sound sleep. Someone had pulled a fast one on me. Later my husband and i discussed How we might determine in the future if such a Call was legitimate. He came up with a Good idea. When such a request is made simply ask the operator to have the party identify himself by giving his birth Date. I Hope this tip will prevent others from being tricked the Way we were. No name please in Norfolk dear Norfolk thanks for passing on a neat idea. It is one that could be used in other situations when someone is trying to pose As a relative or close Friend make a note readers. Los Angeles times syndicated columnist Landers welcomes your letters. You can write to her in care of the stars and stripes. Apo 09211. Us forces consulate explains social Security delays this is to address a problem pertaining to the receipt of monthly social Security checks by authorized beneficiaries residing in Southern Bavaria in West Ger Many. If this applies to other areas serviced by the social Security administration american consulate general Frankfurt then this letter is Long overdue. The problem Ever increasing delays in the dispatch of checks. Recently several recipients in this area com pared notes about the problem. We Learned the follow ing checks for november 1988, received on dec. 9 those for december 1988, received on Jan. 10 and for january on feb. Ii. While we for the most part do not feel that the social Security administration is corporately insensitive to the financial position Many of its aging beneficiaries enjoy we nevertheless feel there is no excuse for the inordinate and unexplained behaviour in the lawful conduct of the government s mandated Busi Ness. Accordingly we agree that financial responsibility would allow for the timely mailing of checks right after the end of month authorizations. The sea should consider that although Many of us Only receive Mere stipends we regularly have first of the month obligations which we Are enjoined to meet and Here again without undue delay. Some readers May wonder Why those concerned do not express Chagrin Over the matter by direct Appeal. This has been tried to no Avail by telephoning both the consulates in Frankfurt and Munich. Nothing More and nothing less we feel we have earned the respect of the social Security administration and stand ready to applaud it for bringing about the desired improvement. Name and location withheld editor s note Anthony Psaromatis Consul Federal benefits officer american consulate general Frankfort replies i appreciate the Opportunity to respond to the writer and explain the delivery process for social Security checks to beneficiaries in Southern Bavaria and those residing anywhere in Germany. Delivery of social Security checks to beneficiaries outside the Continental United states is a cooperative Effort involving several is. Government agencies. Each month the social Security administration sea trans mits a payment tape to the Treasury department s regional finance Center in Philadelphia a Tor More than 320,000 beneficiaries living outside the unite states. Checks Are printed and transported to the Apo Fpo mailing facility at Juk International Airport in new York. Approximately 20,000 sea checks Are sent priority mail to Germany and arrive on a non Stop flight at Frankfurt International Airport. The incoming Apo mail is sorted at the Airport by the military and prepared for pickup by the various postal groups. The army Post Al group Europe which handles the Apo mail and sea checks addressed to the american cons Lale Gen eral picks up the mail daily and transports it to its Offenbach facility where ii is sorted and prepared for pickup delivery to 29 unit mail locations. Each morning except weekends holidays the diplomatic mail and Pouch Center at the american consulate general Frankfurt picks up Apo mail from Offenbach and takes it to the consulate Complex for sorting and distribution. The bulk shipment of eight to 10 boxes of sea checks is usually delivered to the Federal benefits unit Between the 3rd and 6th of the month. The Federal benefits unit most screen the checks and pull those that should not be mailed have changes of address or need special action. The checks Are taken to the consulate Mai room for the staff to place our local address and Bunde Spost postage on each envelope. After this process is Complete the checks Are trucked to the Bunde Spost for delivery to beneficiaries in Germany. As you can see from this description there Are Many Steps in the delivery process and delays can occur. The most Likely delay is for checks to arrive in country late in the week. If this occurs our office May encounter two to three Day processing delay because of the week end or a Holiday. Unfortunately we have no control Over the monthly Calendar. The writer commented about the dates he and other beneficiaries in Southern Bavaria received their checks in december 1988 and january february 1989. In each of those months the bulk shipment of checks arrived in my office bite in the week. After the screening sort info and applying local postage the checks could not be delivered to the Bunde Spost before the weekend. Consequently we lost several Days in delivery to the beneficiaries. The social Security administration department of stale military postal service Agency and All govern ment agencies involved Are very concerned about the timely delivery of checks to beneficiaries. We do every thing possible to gel the checks to beneficiaries As Early in the month As possible. Currently the Only Way beneficiaries in Germany can be sure to receive their payments on the 3rd of each month is by arranging for direct Deposit to a United slates financial institution. The social Security administration is taking Steps to expand the process and has developed an International direct Deposit procedure. The process has been implemented in the United kingdom and sea beneficiaries can elect to have their monthly benefits deposited directly into their local Bank accounts through electronic fund Transfer. Plans Are under Way to expand this procedure to other countries including Germany. Beneficiaries will be Noti fied when this option becomes available in the Federal Republic of Germany. Writer takes fresh approach to problem an article recently appeared new racist attitude sweeping  references were made to bigotry racial slurs and White supremacy. The writer did t bother mentioning his or her race and sex. I am a 26-year-old caucasian with what 1 Hope is a fresh approach to this centuries old problem. We Are approaching 2000. So Many things around us have changed rapidly making us change. Earth quakes floods Oil spills global warming and political shifts All affect personalities of All races. No predicting the future is not my goal nor is it my goal to preach salvation to the world. We Only have one life to live and such a Short time to live it. Whenever we have such hatred toward one another it Only makes matters worse. We appear As if we Are acting like children in the world s eyes. We arc one of the superpowers in the world where so Many races have a decent shot at political Freedom As Well As personal Freedom. Only in the United states. Space exploration oceanography and ecology we As a planet As a whole people arc very weak and a Long Way from accomplishing what we would like to accomplish because some individuals Are so concerned with the color of one s skin. How trivial and childish if the Strong cannot help the weak in a global Community where strife famine and terrorism seem to be running rampant we Only have ourselves to blame. If we As a whole people let such trivial matters intrude into our thoughts into the year 2000, such As racism bigotry new racism White supremacy or whatever we Are Only holding ourselves in chains of global slavery. We All will consume ourselves in the flames of greed and hate unless we All change our attitudes soon. Spec. Ronald Sandefur Mannheim West Germany european edition col Jeffrey u. Cook Usa commander editor in cruel it col Suzanne l. Philips Usan Deputy commander editor in Chloel Marie Kominicki Mert Proctor Deane b. Mcdermott production manager managing editor circulation manager this newspaper is an Suteno filieo unofficial publication Lor members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes Are no necessarily me official views of. Or endorsed by me us government the department of defense or me . European command. The appearance of advertising m Thra pub Catlon. Including inserts or  not constitute endorsement by me department Olda Lens Etor the stars and slopes of the products or services advertised. Everything advertised in this publication Shal be made available Lor Purchase use. Or patronage without regard to Rice color religion. Be. National origin age. 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