Tiffany's life-tini

Today was not a pleasant day. I woke up and received an email that really annoyed me. I then attempted to make a call to address this email and discovered that our phones were not working. WJJ shared with me that, once again the lot next door, had a water overflow (long story.) It is owned by the CEO of Samsung and this man has invested millions of $$$ into this property and has had nothing but aggravation. At any rate, because the water streamed across Kahala Avenue, evidently it damaged the phone boxes and we have no phones. We cannot call out and we cannot receive calls.

Of course, I called Hawaiian Tel. Well, that was an adventure. The young man was very pleasant and very nice. He started off with what is your phone number –obviously I wasn’t calling from our home –we have no phone. He then checked the line and voila –it’s not working. (I think that’s what I said). I shared with him exactly what the problem was–water had damaged the lines.

He politely asked, “Can I ask you a few questions?” Because I wanted to be snarky, I almost said, “That is incorrect, you should say, “May I ask you a few question?”. But I restrained myself because this unfortunate man had to deal with me @ 6:30 AM. Poor guy–he pulled the short straw!

So question #1: Do you have dog? “No”. I assume they asked because maybe the dog would eat the phone line.

#2 –Do you live in a gated community? “No”

#3 — Do you have closed gates on your property? “Yes”

#4 –Did you check any other phones in your home? “Yes, they are not working”

#5–How many phones do you have in your home? “Not sure, 14 or 15.”

#6 –Is this a business? “No it’s our home”

#7 –How many phones do you have? “14 or 15 or maybe more.” BTW I checked, I think the magic # is 19.

#8 — You have 14 phones –is this your home? “Yes”.

#9–This is not a business? “No” I was beginning to feel like I was either Abbott or Costello. Who’s on First?

Evidently he must have started to believe me. We were onto the next round of questions.

#10 –So, you’re calling about 808-737-8595? “Well I’m calling about that number and 3 other numbers for our home.”

#11–So you have four different #’s for your home? “Yes”

#12–This is not a business? “REALLY –NO!”

We then went through all the #’s and the importance of getting phone service back. I was calm and nice and thankful.

#13 Mrs. James, I’ll put a rush on this. “Thank you so much.”

#14 We’ll get a technician there on Friday. “Pardon me… Today is Wednesday… we have no phones. Seriously, you have to be able to send someone out today.”

#15. Unfortunately, all the technicians have their assignments for the day. “It’s only 7:00 AM perhaps we could ADD an assignment” (Welcome to Hawaii)

#16 No, unfortunately we can’t.

I then again tried to explain the importance of our phone line.

#17 This poor man was trying to help me and even gave me a great “excuse” for rushing the repair. Mrs. James… Does anyone have a life threatening illness so that they might really need phone access? I have to admit, I paused. Should I say “yes” Or should I say that if I cannot communicate with the outside world for the next 3 days, I might kill my husband or myself. But I figured that was not good karma. So I simply said “no”.

By this time, I was a tad bit exasperated. I nicely thanked him for his time. I actually contemplated reaching out to one of the VP’s of Hawaiian Tel that we know. Undoubtedly, we would get quicker service.

And then I thought about my dear friend Qi Marie. Last week at the tender age of 39 she left this earth. She was beautiful, smart, kind and vibrant. She had a rare heart condition that was unknown to most of us. One day she’s laughing and smiling and dancing with all of us… the next day, she’s gone.

So I paused, took a deep breath and said, realized that surely not having phone service available for 2 – 3 days is just NO BIG DEAL.

It’s amazing how God gives us lessons each and every day. And although I created it and teach it… sometimes I have to be reminded…Life and Death…. And Everything Else!

Tj

PS Don’t bother calling me until Friday!