Let’s go Shopping

Sterotypically it’s the woman in the family that runs up the credit cards. Not this time!
Wrong number? I don’t think so. This article in The National Post sums it up nicely.

An apparent breakdown in communications between federal emergency officials and the crew of Canadian navy ships en route to help victims of Hurricane Katrina left sailors scrambling to buy $1-million in relief supplies in Halifax stores rather than dipping into stockpiles of emergency gear.

Navy supply officers went on a shopping spree for everything from chainsaws to diaper cream in the four days before a Canadian task force sailed for the disaster area this week.

Apparently, the phone at Public Security and Emergency Preparedness Canada was unanswered over the weekend. The PSEPC insisted there was someone there and the Navy had the wrong number.

Don’t you just love it when common sense and practicality takes over? Imagine a group of men (officers) in stores running up credit cards. I am sure there were women officers too, obviously they had a good idea of what to take.

A million dollars worth of supplies. No formal authorization. That is so Canadian. Waiting for the federal government to act just wasn’t on the officer’s agenda. Bureaucracies rise to the height of their incompetence. I am sure the Halifax retail community appreciated the ingenuity.

The frigates are churning through 30 foot waves (Ophilia). Someone in Ottawa finally answered their voice mail. The Department of National Defence has a few credit card bills to pay. I wonder if they have to pay 19% interest?

Bon Voyage!