Taking Care of Business

The phone company and I have always had an adversarial relationship. For years, if it rained, the chances that I would be without a phone were the odds that any betting person would like. When I called to report the outage it was always the same. They would tell me that they would send someone out to check the inside lines and if there wasn’t a problem someone would come out to check the outside lines. The problem was that it was always the outside lines and always when it rained. Sending someone out to explore the inside lines, just delayed resolving the problem. This repetitive, unproductive exchange and resolution to the problem always left me frustrated. Just thinking about calling the phone company made my blood pressure rise.
When we moved, I left the problem behind, but I have always carried with the frustrations of dealing with company policies regardless of whether they make sense or not. I have carried with me the memories of dealing with people who sound like they are reading from a script.
After years of not having to deal with the phone company, I again found myself dreading the call I needed to make to address my cell phone problem. I anticipated similar unpleasant experiences of the past. Instead, I found myself talking to someone who genuinely wanted to help me solve my phone issues. He even went beyond what I called about, to make sure that a similar problem wouldn’t happen in the future. I commented on his helpfulness and he said he was raised in a small town where everyone new everyone and no one could get away with actions without the whole town knowing. It left him with the philosophy that you should treat others the way you want to be treated. If you don’t, you’ll know it, but there’s a good likelihood others will as well. Life just is a lot simpler if you treat others with kindness and respect. There are many commercials that enhance the “stay connected” aspect of phone and internet services. It seems this representative has a more effective motto. “Courtesy is the shortest distance between two people.”