Today, I am ashamed of our human species. I am ashamed to be an American. But most of all, I am mad as hell for the way that we treated a war veteran in the twilight of his life.

Marvin E. Schur, a 93 year old war veteran and retired foundry worker FROZE TO DEATH, because the electric company installed a limiter on his meter for an unpaid electric bill. The coroner said that Schur died a “slow, painful death”. He was found in his home on January 17, 2009. See: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,484724,00.html

No; this wasn’t a guy who couldn’t pay his bill due to a lack of money, but rather, because of an oversight. How does a guy with $600,000 in the bank not pay a bill? Simple; he was confused.

So, instead of the power company CALLING him on the telephone and asking if there was a problem, they had a person sneak out to his house on January 13, 2009 and place a limiter on his electric meter and then, didn’t even bother to tell him how it worked.

A customer who had faithfully paid his bill on time for 50-60 years DIED, because we have lost our humanity. We have become so self-absorbed, so stuck in the middle of “policy”, so paranoid that there is ulterior motive, so insensitive to the needs of others and most importantly; so cavalier with our decision-making that we don’t understand the end result and its impact.

I can understand putting a boot on a car’s tire for parking in a restricted area. I can even, to some degree, understand having the car towed away, if the sign is there that states that you could be towed for parking there.

I can understand that a letter should be sent to a customer of a utility company when payment isn’t received. I can understand that a second letter is sent asking if a customer got the first letter. I can understand that a third letter is sent outlining the available options for the non-payment. I can understand that we have postal workers who don’t always deliver all of the mail, which is why I believe in “certified” mail and better yet; a live person to contact a customer. Especially an elderly customer like Mr. Schur.

This poor man fought off hypothermia for about four days, before finally succumbing to it. A man who had survived one of the most brutal wars in modern history couldn’t survive the American Dream. He died for a grand total of $1,100 and the Citi Banks and Bernie Madoffs of the world who have stolen billions and live in their penthouses are allowed to soak up the warmth on the backs of the American people. What is wrong with that picture?

Murderers, rapists and robbers are treated better in this country. But, we sentenced Marvin Schur to death for being a good citizen, an American patriot and a hard working man. In a country where you can be arrested and charged with a crime for not protecting your dogs from the cold, we didn’t protect Mr. Schur.

Mr. Schur; alone and someone who didn’t ask for help, didn’t bother anyone and who kept to himself and his business died because of a very flawed company policy and a society that continues to erode its concern for fellow human beings.

There should be a national outrage to this despicable act on the part of the utility company. The lack of any effort on their part to find out if there was a problem is unacceptable. Installing a device without the customer’s knowledge or consent should be illegal. The fact that someone died as a result is criminal and whoever made the decision to install the equipment on Mr. Schur’s meter without first making direct contact with him should be arrested, charged with negligent homicide, tried in a court of law, convicted and sentenced.

That would be more than what Marvin Schur was afforded.

I hope the state of Michigan enjoys the $600,000 it inherited from Mr. Schur. Maybe that money should go into an escrow account for people who can’t pay their electric bills.

Interesting to note is that the electric company decided to review policy and will have all limiters removed in the meantime.

Not a bad decision considering that it took a “slow, painful death” to trigger a review.

It’s sad to think that we care more for our cell phones than our fellow Man.