Unreliability is the worst discourtesy

Jim Lee: Local Columnist

One of my pet peeves is unreliability. Don’t say it if you ain’t gonna do it.

Take plumbers for example.

The kitchen faucet has been dripping for six months, and we have to flush the toilet 28 times (waiting for who-knows-how-long for the tank to fill up each time). The pipes from the house to the water supply have rusted — and they’re plastic pipes. The sprinklers wet down the street and miss the grass. In other words, we need a plumber so we can use the bathroom or wash the dishes or take a shower while the lawn dies.

So we call Lefty’s Plumbing and Payday Loan Service from three cities away because everybody else is booked up. The gravelly voice on the phone says somebody will be on the scene first thing Monday morning. By Thursday afternoon we figure maybe they forgot about us. So we call the gravelly voice again. The dude on the phone sounds really annoyed, but what can we do about it if we want water to go in and out of the house the way it’s supposed to?

The plumber reluctantly agrees to get somebody here next morning, but there will be a rush charge. Three days later, a sweaty person in orange coveralls arrives but has forgotten to bring tools and leaves to go get them. The person doesn’t return, but we get a bill for a service charge and a loan approval at 863.7 percent interest.

Of course I could have resorted to exaggeration or just made up that story to make a point, but it’s not far off the mark is it?

And what about car repairs? Say we have a car still under warranty and take it to the dealer because something doesn’t work right. The rear windows won’t go up, the rubber thing on the brake pedal is gone, and the hub caps are upside down. After 19 hours in the waiting room with stale coffee in ragged Styrofoam cups, we are asked what’s wrong with the car for the 34th time. Then we’re told to come back Wednesday when somebody’s around who has time to talk to us.

Wednesday becomes the 11th of next month. Then we’re told they have to order parts, but their computer network broke down last week. The computer repair person is booked and has to order electronic antibiotics for a virus in the hard drive. (It seems we need a hard drive to drive the car as long as we don’t drive it hard.)

Then there’s cable TV. I don’t mean to pick on any particular cable “service” in any specific location. On second thought, let’s not go there at all. If I think about this for more than three seconds, out comes that nine-pound sledgehammer and an attitude.

For me the hardest unreliability to deal with isn’t plumbers or mechanics. It’s just regular, so-called everyday people.

Suppose Saundra and I invite a couple to dinner at our home and they accept. As a point of reference, let’s just use two very common names, say “Rocco” and “Zena.” We clean the carpet, pick up the back issues of Maniac Gazette from the floor, and shampoo the hamster. I even shave on a weekend.

Then the eagerly anticipated evening arrives. No Rocco. No Zena. Not even the courtesy of a phone call. Now that really tarnishes my cosmic cue ball, friends and neighbors.

So, let’s make a resolution to commemorate this first day of the second full week of the final quarter of 2005. Let’s pledge to be reliable and courteous. Unreliability is just about the worst discourtesy this side of homicide and excessive littering. Think about that. And take the time to consider how the other person feels.

I’ll be here next week for another chat — if I remember to show up.