Mr. Diva just came home from a rehearsal with his band, with the following tidbit:
The male half of a couple we know, was injured during the filming of an independent film, a few weeks ago. He has no insurance, nor did the film. (That's a WHOLE other subject...so don't get me started.) He was hospitalized briefly for his injuries, which included a collapsed lung. Evidently the total bill came to $24,000.00...and he can't pay it.
He's fine now, and able to go back to work. He owns a landscaping business...and does well enough to afford a shooting sport, with rifles costing several thousand dollars.
So the female half of the couple (his live-in girlfriend, with whom he has a child...they're not married) decided to organize a benefit to raise the money. Supposedly, they're in danger of losing their house. Interestingly, the house is in only her name...not jointly held.
The reason I mention them not being married, is because I'm doubtful that a creditor could come after an asset that is on paper, her sole and separate property, even though they are living in it together. If they were married, that would not be the case. They could indeed lose the house.
One of Mr. Diva's band-mates mentioned this during their rehearsal this afternoon, and wanted to know if the band would be interested in playing for this so-called benefit. No date has been set...yet.
Now these two people happen to be on the board of directors of OUR theatre company. They recently started their OWN theatre company, when the girlfriend decided she wanted to do a play of her own. Her boyfriend spent better than $5000 on that production (a children's musical), which directly competed with a production OUR theatre company did at Halloween...and they both were in. We were NOT happy about that.
They took a bath on their production. We broke even on ours...and paid our actors (including them). They rented platforms from us, to use for their production. We have not been paid. (a moderate $50 fee) And he still has a tuxedo that belongs to someone else, and was loaned to him for our show, but has not yet been returned...despite several attempts to retreive it from him.
SHE is organizing this "benefit" to not only help with HIS hospital bill, but also to help cover the costs of the production they did and took a bath on. She's bringing "talent" in from her circle of community theatre friends, in a nearby town. I'M sick to my stomach!
Not only will we NOT be participating in this fiasco, nor attending it...Mr. Diva, who is chairman of our Board, will be asking for BOTH of their resignations! I do not want to give ANY appearance that our theatre company endorses these shenanigans in any way, shape or form!
The man isn't dying. He's back to perfect health and able to work the business he owns! WHY should strangers be expected to pay his hospital bill? Let him work out a payment arrangement of his own...that doesn't include people he doesn't know, anteing up to cover his losses!
Last year at this time, I had a kidney stone. I too have no medical insurance. The ER cost for me was $7000. I didn't and don't have that kind of money lying around either. Nor did I have the $25,000 it cost to re-construct my knee in 2001.
The LAST thing I would ever think to do, would be to organize a "benefit" to invite all my friends to perform (for FREE, by the way...and some of us are professionals), so STRANGERS could pay my medical bills!
What in the E-HELL are they thinking?!!
(I hope this post was at least reasonably coherent. I'm so flabbergasted, I can hardly type!)
