Over the last few days, I must admit I've begun to feel a slight kinship to that persistent widow Jesus talked about.It all started on Tuesday around noon, when I negotiated a lower monthly fee with our local cable company for cable television, telephone and internet services. But then about a half-an-hour later, we lost access to our DVR, on-demand programming and the internet. Turns out the sales rep who reworked our contract entered in a slew of wrong codes which interrupted the services. They got the television straightened out by the next morning--including putting our 80% full DVR back in our control, whew. (It's got a full unwatched season of Smallville sitting on it along with at least five hours of yet-to-be-viewed episodes of The Simpsons.)
But the internet was another story. Hours on the phone. The case being bumped up to an upper tier of experts. We'll have it worked out in 24 to 48 hours, they promised. Not a peep for 48 hours. So I call them. And a customer service rep tells me it will be at least another 24 hours. No, it doesn't look like they've look at your case yet. No, customer service reps don't have the ability to contact much less put me in contact with those mysterious technological magicians in their hidden and fortified castle.
For a brief moment, I wonder what I should do. I'm not frustrated, angry or upset. Just feel really tired. Then I think of that widow at the door of the unjust judge. No, this doesn't have anything to do with prayer (the context in which Jesus told that parable). And no, the cable company isn't unjust, just a broken system in desperate need of repair. But, what the heck. Worth a shot.
So, I draw a deep breath and calmly tell her that I really needed to talk to a supervisor. It's not your fault, I earnestly assure her, and I understand you've done what you can but I just really need to get this straightened out. Back on hold I go. Supervisor's line isn't answering? No, I don't want to be called back. I'll hold. Yes, I still want to hold. No, keep me on hold, please. Yes, I'll keep waiting, thank you. Yes, I'm still here. Yes, I'll still keep holding.
Then I finally hear the voice of a supervisor. A polite young man--who 20 minutes later gets our internet back. No, he isn't one of those mysterious tech magicians, just an experienced fellow who took minutes to fix what I had already waited days just to get an "expert" to look at. Oiy.
Anyway, we're connected to the cyber-world again. And I did learn some things. Persistence can pay off. And I can survive without the internet; I got some things done I might not have if I'd otherwise had internet access. And I learned I can do a lot of things one-handed.
Oh, and I never want to hear musak again.
(Image: "Candlestick Telephone Gal," Public Domain via Wikipedia)
