In my past life, I owned a Mercury Sable. And before you ask, no, it did not warrant a lot of attention from the opposite gender. In fact, little children often assumed I was their grandfather because of it. The Sable is the mechanical twin/clone of the Ford Taurus. They are essentially the same car, but they have different names and logos. Whenever I had it worked on, or went to purchase a part for it, (it was not a reliable car by any means,) the individuals who worked at these places would call it a Ford Taurus. For some reason that always angered me. I would shout back: “It’s a Mercury Sable!” This would of course lead to some awkward looks from other patrons.
Why was it important to me? In my past life, I owned a Mercury Sable. And before you ask, no, it did not warrant a lot of attention from the opposite gender. In fact, little children often assumed I was their grandfather because of it. The Sable is the mechanical twin/clone of the Ford Taurus. They are essentially the same car, but they have different names and logos. Whenever I had it worked on, or went to purchase a part for it, (it was not a reliable car by any means,) the individuals who worked at these places would call it a Ford Taurus. For some reason that always angered me. I would shout back: “It’s a Mercury Sable!” This would of course lead to some awkward looks from other patrons.
Why was it important to me? Well, for one, not all Taurus parts will fiton a Sable, but, more importantly, I’m a stickler for getting names right. I can honestly say that I have grown since then, but on occasion my “dark passenger” creeps back into my life. Working with the VA does not make it easy.
I honestly kept this at bay until a phone call from a young a female Veteran brought it back out. She criticized our website for stating that we worked with the “Veterans Administration.” She claimed that it was wrong, and obviously we didn’t know what we were talking about because we couldn’t even get the name right. She stated that VA stood for “Veterans Affairs.”
Who was right in this situation? Well, actually we both were. Here is how this works. The VA as a whole is the Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s a huge government agency that actually has three separate administrations within it. There is the Veterans Health Administration, the National Cemetery Administration, and our favorite, the Veterans Disability Administration. All three of these are technically the VA. However, we never deal with the folks at the Health Administration or the Cemetery Administration.
It’s kind of like Pepsi. Pepsi is a huge company that makes products like Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, and Mug Root Beer. If you were a vendor who needed to order more Mountain Dew, you would call the Pepsi Bottler. When I explained to the woman that the two terms were interchangeable, she did not like that answer. The fact of the matter is that it’s true. If a Veteran calls me asking for help with his Veterans Affairs disability claim, I don’t make him clarify that he means the Veterans Disability Administration. Back in the day I sold hot tubs and accepted the fact that most people refer to them as Jacuzzi’s. Certain words are just generic terms to refer to multiple items. This is the case with the VA. Most people don’t know the difference, and that is just fine with me.
If you need help with Veterans Disability Claim, give me a call. I’d love to talk you about it. Also, while you are online, request a free copy of our book. Well, for one, not all Taurus parts will fit on a Sable, but, more importantly, I’m a stickler for getting names right. I can honestly say that I have grown since then, but on occasion my “dark passenger” creeps back into my life. Working with the VA does not make it easy.
I honestly kept this at bay until a phone call from a young a female Veteran brought it back out. She criticized our website for stating that we worked with the “Veterans Administration.” She claimed that it was wrong, and obviously we didn’t know what we were talking about because we couldn’t even get the name right. She stated that VA stood for “Veterans Affairs.”
Who was right in this situation? Well, actually we both were. Here is how this works. The VA as a whole is the Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s a huge government agency that actually has three separate administrations within it. There is the Veterans Health Administration, the National Cemetery Administration, and our favorite, the Veterans Disability Administration. All three of these are technically the VA. However, we never deal with the folks at the Health Administration or the Cemetery Administration.
It’s kind of like Pepsi. Pepsi is a huge company that makes products like Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, and Mug Root Beer. If you were a vendor who needed to order more Mountain Dew, you would call the Pepsi Bottler. When I explained to the woman that the two terms were interchangeable, she did not like that answer. The fact of the matter is that it’s true. If a Veteran calls me asking for help with his Veterans Affairs disability claim, I don’t make him clarify that he means the Veterans Disability Administration. Back in the day I sold hot tubs and accepted the fact that most people refer to them as Jacuzzi’s. Certain words are just generic terms to refer to multiple items. This is the case with the VA. Most people don’t know the difference, and that is just fine with me.
