Things Fall Apart

Over the last several weeks, several things in my life have either broken or failed to do their job. First, there was the cable modem, which is now resting peacefully in my closet. Then there was the back driver's side tire on the Saturn, which decided to breathe its last on a rainy Wednesday morning.

On Thursday the cable went out- on the TV. Which means, other than the dial-up connection I cling to and the use of electricity, I was practically thrust into the Middle Ages.

I called on Monday and asked that they drop my service down to the lowest tier, which includes 22 channels for 11.00 dollars a month. I was paying roughly 80.00 a months for 150 channels I never had time to watch. I figure I can eat at Taco Bell a few more times with the extra money I'm saving.

Well, on Thursday night I came home looking forward to another rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond when the beautiful big screen TV that came with the house responded with a bright blue screen reminiscent of a Ray Bradbury short story. In the middle was one word:

Searching...

And then nothing. After a while the TV turned itself off (that, in and of itself, is scary enough) and I was left in silence. My three dogs stared at me, bewildered and confused. I knew the feeling.

So I called Charter. Twice. Then again on Friday. Then twice on Saturday. Finally someone came out and repaired the problem. This time, however, they gave me too many channels. A lady called and asked if everything was fixed and I told her about the problem. She said they would fix it, as well as "Thank you for your honesty." I think she was genuinely shocked that someone would actually be truthful about the situation.

Sometimes I wished I lived in a world where honesty was expected and being deceitful was a spectacle in and of itself.