December 9 – “Comcast Land”

So … Comcast.  Chris and I went up to the church on Monday to meet them for our appointment to install a new modem for the church so we can have effective internet service in both buildings.  We had some things to do to get ready for The Bethlehem Market Craft Fair on Saturday, so then “window of arrival” time they gave us shouldn’t have been any problem.  We were scheduled originally from 10 to noon.  The recorded message (the one that placed us in the Federated States of Micronesia) changed that time to 11 to 1.  We had to pick up Cailyn from school at 3, so that was still not a problem at all.  Easy enough, right?  (Insert smirk here)

At 12:58, just two minutes before the deadline’s end, I received a call from the dispatcher that they would be there in 15 or 20 minutes.  They had just left a job in  Friendswood.  Fair enough.  At least they called.  And we were in Micronesia, after all.  15 minutes went by.  20 minutes went by.  Chris went to Subway and brought us back some sandwiches.  30 minutes.  40 minutes.  Finally, at 2:15 I called them back.  The dispatcher (or whoever it was that I was talking to) was nice enough, and seemed genuinely surprised that the technician wasn’t there yet.  He assured me he would call him right away and see what was going on, and then call me right back. 

I guess “right back” means something different in Comcast Land.  At 2:38 I called back again.  This time he seemed flustered for some reason.  He managed to get out, “Oh, he’s just getting ready to call you.”  Of course he is.  That was a bit more than we had time to deal with.  I told the guy that we had to leave and the next time I would be available to meet him would be Thursday morning at 9 a.m.  I told him I would expect the technician to be there, since way back when we originally scheduled this house call I told them we had to have it done by this weekend.  He stumbled around with that.  At first he said, “I can’t say for sure he can be there at that time.  I have to call …”  I calmly replied, “Take care of it.  Thursday at 9 a.m.”  Again with the stumbling and stuttering around, before he came out with, “Well, I can assign the techs to go wherever I say, so I’ll just assign someone to be there on Thursday at 9 a.m.”  I told him that would be fine and I would be expecting a follow-up call to confirm the appointment.  And guess what? At 2:49 that call came in.  If we didn’t need the internet connection so badly for this weekend, it would be really tempting to call at the last minute and reschedule.  Just for fun. 

1 Peter 1:13 says, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Father, I know there are always circumstances going on in people’s lives that we don’t know about.  Help me to respond to the circumstances in my life with your eyes and ears … and your heart.  Amen.