A CHOICE POINT

Last week I listened to a song that I had not heard in years. There was one sentence that caught my attention. It was, “In the end only kindness matters.” It made me stop and think about my life. Do I always respond with kindness or do I allow my ego to take over and perhaps be unkind?

Two days later I had a problem with the charges on my telephone bills. I was a more than little upset and, as I thought about it, my upset turned to anger. This was what I call a choice point. Fortunately, I took a few breaths before I picked up the phone. I decided to “be nice,” no matter what.

I first spoke to a representative who transferred me to someone else. After three transfers, I finally reached Carl. I explained my problem for the fourth time as best I could. Carl told me that one of my three separate charges was due the previous day. I was now faced with a late fee.

Rather than arguing about the late fee, I asked if there was any way I could combine the services on one bill. While I waited patiently, Carl truly did everything he could to help. I was on that call for more than an hour. By the time he finished, I not only knew his name, but how long he had been with the company, where he lived, and the names of his wife and children. After combining two services, my total phone bill dropped.

I then asked if there was a way to add my cell phone service to the same bill. Carl wasn’t sure. He did explain that cell phones are handled by a different department in a different state. He gave me the number to call and suggested that I tell them what had transpired and ask if combining the cell phone bill with the others was possible.

I thought I was in for another round of people when Carl told me to hold on and not to hang up. Instead of leaving this to me, he went out if his way to see if he could transfer me. Although the company did not allow employees three way calling from state to state, I had the service. I was able to complete a three-way call, and Carl explained the details to the new representative. He left me with a lovely lady named Diane who set me up in the combination bill and also helped resolve two issues with the cell phone. She then looked at my usage history and told me about their senior plan. It was less minutes, but it lowered my price considerably even though I had a contract. Diane told me that I could change back to the higher plan if I knew I was going to be using more minutes in a particular month.

Although it took over 2 hours to complete everything, I clearly saw how much kindness mattered for me and for both of them. Instead of reliving all of the anger that I could have felt, I was truly joyful. Sure, it was a bit tedious at times, but we had so many laughs and all of my problems were solved. Oh yes…my late fee was also removed!

How important was the “choice point?” You decide.

Written for you with Love,

Rev. Dr. Barbara Rasp


“You have the power to choose.
This is your only power.
Choose wisely.”

Archangel Michael

(The song that inspired me was titled “Hands.” It was written and performed by Jewel.)