I’ve always been lucky with waiting. All of my current doctors, dentists,
pediatricians and orthodontists are really good at getting us in at our
scheduled time. Although there was that
one time my gynecologist left me waiting on the table wearing only a pair of
socks* and a paper gown no bigger than a tissue while he hurried away to
deliver a baby. When I finally saw him
at my rescheduled appointment, I told him I felt like I had been dumped on a
date and that he at least owed me a dinner!
But I digress.
I bring up waiting times because today I faced the most
dreaded wait of all…the cable man. Our
lovely girl, Macy, is a chewer. A couple
of nights ago, while Don and I were watching TV, I saw something going on out
of the corner of my eye. In the same
instant that I realized she was chewing on the wire, the show we were watching
disappeared. Yep…she had chewed right
through the cable wire. Luckily, it was
just the one that goes into the sunroom.
Can you imagine if we didn’t have ANY television for longer than a few
minutes? I shudder to think.
So, I call our provider this morning and request a service
call. I’m told they can send someone out
anytime between 8-12 on Tuesday morning.
That’s fine with me. We still have
two other televisions that work just fine.
I go ahead and plan my day accordingly.
But then they call me back…they can come today! Hurray!
And they can be there anytime between 12-4! Hurray! Wait…what?
Huh…four hours…you can’t narrow it down any more than that? There’s a lot I can get done in four
hours. I need to go to the grocery store
and we need to clean Tessa’s room , not to mention I’m still trying to get the
HVAC guy back out to complete our repairs.
Nope. It’s a four-hour window, no
matter how you look at it.
Guess what time he arrived?
That’s right…3:51 p.m. He made it
with exactly nine minutes left in that long, long time period. Really, you couldn’t at least have told me
it would probably be towards the end of that period? I mean, you have a schedule, right? You know what you’re going to be doing,
right?
Sigh…I know these people are busy and it’s hard to plan
exactly. But when did our time become so
unimportant? What about those people who
have to wait hours at the doctor’s office?
Is his time more important than yours?
I think not.
Here’s what we should do – let’s start a waiting revolution! When we call to schedule any type of visit, let’s
give THEM a time frame. For example,
call your doctor and tell the office you will be there sometime between
10-2. And then show up at 1:59 demanding
to be seen immediately. Or call the
cable company and ask them to wait outside your home for the entire afternoon
and when you’re ready for them, you’ll let them in the house.
I can see this working for any appointment where we have to
work. Make the professionals have to
conform to OUR schedules! Take back our
time! Be in charge!! Power to the people!!!!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I promised to make dinner
tonight. I plan on having it ready any
time between 5-8 p.m…
*For you men, the purpose of the socks is two-fold: 1) it’s
usually REALLY cold in those rooms; and 2) wearing socks makes us feel just a
little less vulnerable. Because covering
our feet really takes away from the awkwardness of lying on a table with your
feet up in the air, wearing nothing but a skimpy gown and trying to make small
talk…
P.S. For any of you that might be, know or love a cable
repair person, I’m sorry. For many
reasons.
Waiting for the Cable Guy
No comments:
Post a Comment