It just ain't what it used to be!

Well, my nose-dive into the 21st century hasn't been as much fun as I thought it would be. Cox Cable sent an installer who didn't speak English and we had a definite failure to communicate. I raised the volume of my voice thinking somehow that if I just talked louder his English would improve. Not logical thinking but my unconscious attempt to remedy our communication problem. Finally I showed him where the cable wire was protruding from the wall behind the entertainment center and being the naive person I am assumed he would use it to connect the cable. But...alas...not to be. This commandant of the English language went about his work when I suddenly heard a loud drilling noise just in time to see a drill come through the front brick wall. Seems he had stapled the wiring from the back of my house down the side across the entire front through the front porch over my front living room window then down the brick (smack centered in front of the house) and through my wall. Which is not even the wall where the tv is located. Now I have a problem with confrontation. I don’t like it and I avoid it at all cost. All cost that is unless it involves wires hanging down the middle of my front window. I knew there was no reason to try and discuss this with my non English-speaking friend so I decided to wait and call Cox Communication this morning. I am greeted by a cheerful animated voice giving me a list of options first in English and then Spanish. None of these options included “If you are calling about the unsightly installation of our wiring you may press 1 now.” I listened my way through several segments of options before I finally got one that said “other”. Upon hearing the voice of a live person I began to explain my problem. His response was, “Why didn’t you say something when the installer was there?” Legitimate question, deserves a legitimate response. I replied, “ I would have but I don’t speak Portuguese as a second language.” I explained that if my desire to have the cable wire installed inside my walls and not outside my window is something that they are unable to provide then that is fine I just want it removed and cancel the service. He responded, “Oh we can do it but it will cost you extra.” That’s like saying we can install your cable crappy for a nominal fee but if you want it done right it will cost more. Gad, what has the world come to? Does no one take pride in the work they do anymore? I think back in the day it would just be standard installation. Well, I know it was 30 years ago because that is the last time I had cable television and no one asked me if I wanted to run the wire through the window or hide it in the wall. They just did it right in the first place. Now we have to pay extra for all kinds of services that were once standard. If you want a window seat on a plane that’s $5.00 extra. If you bring more than one piece of luggage there is an additional charge. Next you will have to pay extra for the floatation device. So..for an additional $50.00 the wires will come down, the hole in the brick patched and the wiring will be redone. I think I’ll use the 3 months of free Showtime and then cancel my service.