It all started when I opened a suspicious looking letter addressed from my cell phone provider. On top of the enclosed letterhead were bold letters, yelling the words: CANCELLATION NOTICE.
I had woken up that morning mentally listing everything I wanted to do that day. There was a book I was excited to read. I recently dove back in to revising my latest memoir. My desk desperately needed organizing and I felt the inspiration to tackle the mess. I also remembered that I’d had to leave a class early and that a recording was waiting for me.
I continued reading the letter, which solemnly informed me that as of January 4, 2025, my service had been cancelled. There was a balance due.
It was several days past that date and as far as I could tell, the phone was still working, so I wasn’t too worried. And I’m on autopay. But it was upsetting to read, so I called the customer service number. I’ll get this taken care of quickly; I said to myself.
After proving my existence by answering multiple questions and remembering four-digit codes, I was asked to wait on the line. Since the woman sounded nice, I obliged.
But quickly became not so quickly, which then morphed into an inordinate amount of time. I started feeling resentful about the time spent on the phone with this remarkably pleasant, patient young woman. I tried to be sympathetic, since I knew it wasn’t her fault. I answered her questions. I provided more information. I read the letter back to her word-by-word, repeating phrases for clarity, since she had to replicate it on her form.
As it became clear that the problem was not mine but theirs, I had a harder time accepting and being patient with what was happening. I wasn’t overdue. I hadn’t done anything wrong! I started to feel frustrated. I knew that the woman I was talking with hadn’t caused the problem, she seemed as baffled as I was and she was just doing her job.
At that point, an uncommonly morbid thought occurred to me. What if I died on the phone with this patient young woman? What of my plans for the morning?
I hear that as we age, we need to become more accepting of whatever the present moment brings. I sometimes add to this directive the thought, ‘At least I’m alive’. So I humored the young woman just a little longer, and we were done. It wasn’t how I’d planned to spend the first part of my day, but that’s how it played out.
IMAGE: Located this picture of my messy desk taken in 2019. I no longer have the laptop but use a small desktop computer which leaves more room for messes. The wall hangings are all different too.
