Sometimes a person just needs to talk, and finding somebody to talk to in the midst of a pandemic can be very difficult. I do believe my husband has heard every one of my clever stories, greatest plans, and the remarkable happenings (or lack thereof) of my day. I certainly have heard his (insert winking emoji here).
So, what a delight to find in this time of COVID, someone else who was willing to listen… and to find that person in a Verizon store, no less. When it comes to stores which I would be happy to avoid forever, Verizon, and for that matter, any store which peddles technology, is at the top of the list. It is not the business’ fault. The staff are invariably friendly and helpful, even if the wait to talk to such said staff is interminable. It’s just that the things they are talking about do not interest me, and frankly, as I said to James, the salesperson who was helping me, “Really, you don’t need to explain the 5G network or gigabytes or whatever anymore. I don’t understand what you’re talking about, and that’s all right; I’m used to not understanding what you’re talking about. Just do it.” Let’s just say stores like Verizon and Apple make me feel very old.
I was at the Verizon store this week to help my son, David, who is part of our “family plan”, get a new phone. In the meantime, I learned that I too was due for a new phone. David was coming to meet me at the store, and during the time I was waiting (and waiting), I had to call him a number of times with questions which James relayed to me about gigs and megabytes and such. Much to my surprise, and this really never happens, the Verizon store was not packed with fellow reluctant shoppers as it usually is. While we waited (and waited) for David to show up, this nice young college student, James, and I kind of hung out. Sometimes he would get up to help a new customer, and I would turn to my novel, and then he would return and we would resume hanging out…and waiting. Sometime in the middle of this wait, my husband called to tell me about a problem with the car. I exclaimed, “Oh no!” and then told him to take care of it, of course. James said, “What, another problem with the phone?” I said, “No, that was my husband calling about something else. Nothing you have to worry about.” James said, “That’s all right, you can vent. I can be your bartender.” He actually said those words! So, I did. I ranted about the car, the pouring rain, how much I hate not understanding technology. And he listened.
So, this week’s delight is talking to a stranger, and feeling a whole lot better for it. All of which makes me wonder if we could be spreading this idea around. To listen to the stranger in the grocery line (about the only place I go besides Verizon in these dreadful days). To be someone’s bartender.
I still cannot figure out what all these buttons are for on this phone. And of course, I always have a few more things I want to vent about. Guess I’ll head on down to the Verizon store and find my bartender.