I
walked into the door of the local country post office and I could see from the
expression on the clerk’s face that something was terribly wrong. A customer
was waiting at her desk, another senior lady was behind him and the clerk informed
me that it would be awhile because her computer was “frozen.”
This
frustrated postal clerk was on the phone with “tech support.” But from the
moaning I overheard it sounded more like “damage control.” “You got to be
kidding,” she mumbled talking to customer service. “It has never taken this
long before” she shared with the rest of us. Our senior lady piped up with the
profound comment “computers are
the ruin of humanity.” I would not
go that far, but the problem appeared that the clerk’s login name and password
were not allowing her to complete any transactions.
I learned
that the young man at the desk ordered a money order. He had given the clerk
his money, but she was unable to print out the money order and worse her moneybox
was locked and she could not open it because her computer was “frozen.”
The
senior lady I believe was an angel in disguise since she needed eight
books of stamps and she had the exact change to pay with cash. She wanted to be
helpful and told the clerk that if this were happening to her “she would be in
tears.”
Our
senior angel gave her cash to the clerk and said she hoped it was enough to
return the money back to the young man who was waiting for his money order.
What a sweetie!
To be
confronted with a frozen computer, or placed “on hold” with tech support sadly
is a common experience in our tech savvy world. What is not so savvy is how we
choose to respond. How would you handle this annoying situation? Our postal
clerk was kicking the boxes, rolling her eyes and mumbling: “you got to be
kidding.” When she hung up the phone and discovered that her computer was still
inoperable she told me that she could not help at this time. I told her that it
was not her fault that she was doing the best she could and I would return another
day.
The reality
is that you are going to face lots of situations that are not in your control.
The next time your computer screen goes blue, you will cry like a baby. Thank
you Mr. Gates. But our relief comes in a faith that says yes there is suffering
in the world and our faith gives us the patience and perseverance to hang
tight. Don’t lose your cool. All computer glitches eventually get fixed but
hopefully not at the expense of our health or sanity.
God
prays for us as we rake our brains over things we can’t control:
“And
now, O Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you. (Psalm 39:7).
Lord,
I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who are terrorized by computers that break
down and ruin our moods. Help us to refocus our frustrations and be like that
senior lady who rose to the occasion and helped as best she could. I bet she was
angel and how wonderful to behold!
