The Value of Service Ever gotten irritated with service people? It seems they want you to wait a lot longer than you prefer. What if they are angelic messengers in disguise?
The Problem Recently my apartment’s air conditioner decided to stop working on the weekend (of course) when the maintenance crew only responds to maintenance “emergencies”. I was optimistic; I thought the problem would be a priority, as going without air conditioning in south Texas is indeed an “emergency”. So I made the call.     When the Assistant Maintenance Man (who’d only been at the property for a few weeks) called me, he asked me to wait until Monday for the air conditioner to be fixed. I suggested instead he recharge the a/c unit so I would be comfortable until the problem could be fixed. He agreed but said he wouldn’t be able to come over for about 1 hour. He showed up 2 hours later as he had to first go to church. “I’m sweating and he has to go to church!” I wasn’t feeling very spiritual at this point. Finally he came and recharged the unit. I was happy, not to mention cool, so I made it through the weekend.
We're Not There Yet The second time the air conditioner stopped working, I let the office know that the repair of my air conditioner was short term and the problem had resurfaced after one week. I wondered why hadn’t they fixed the unit? The Assistant Maintenance Man told me he forgot the promise he’d made over the weekend to give my a/c unit repair first consideration. “He forgot me!” I was hurt, not to mention hot.   During the conversation I found out that the Head Maintenance Man had just resigned and the Assistant Maintenance Man had his hands full responding to a number of requests that he wasn’t completely qualified to fill. I reported his lack of memory to the apartment manager who assured me the repair would be top priority. I felt I got through to them this time and that they had my best interest at heart.  So I enjoyed my cool apartment until once again…the a/c ran out.
Letting Go This time, when I reported the problem over the weekend (when the maintenance crew only responds to maintenance “emergencies”) I quietly reported the repair. I realized the maintenance staff was trying to help me, but that they had their hands full with other repairs and a make-shift crew. Essentially, I accepted the situation. Then I went a step further and started giving thanks. I dug deep and spent a good while feeling grateful, for the great weather, my safety, my calmness and so on. When Monday came, I reported the incident to the Office Manager (who is also new,) I let go and put it in Spirit’s hands.   Today I arrived home to find a note that from the Maintenance Man who said he’d ordered a new compressor and the unit would arrive in a few days. Problem solved. I gave thanks that the apartment was comfortable and the weather was once again mild.  What did I learn from all of this? That giving thanks and letting go of situations that I can’t fix gives me the opportunity to be helped. I now know more about receiving, being patient, and looking for the silver lining in less than perfect situations.  Perhaps I’ll catch on a little faster the next time.  Blessings.