A happy family

Our house phone went on the fritz last Thursday. Naturally such things always happen right ahead of holiday weekends, right? At least it meant for a very quiet and undisturbed weekend, since no one could call us.

We relied on our "dumb" flip phone (we don't have smart phones) to call the phone company and troubleshoot the issue. After going through the usual suggestions, the phone company representative concluded we needed a new modem, and she assured us it would arrive by the Tuesday after Memorial Day, which in fact it did.

We needed to talk with another phone company representative to walk us through the process of replacing the sim card, etc. Once she understood we couldn't receive texts (remember, no smart phones), she was able to confirm our account and all proceeded without a problem.

But an interesting thing happened. During the process, both Don and I were either on the phone with the representative, or trading the phone back and forth to read the tiny little numbers on the sim card, and then testing the phone by sending and receiving calls. While I was on the flip phone with the representative, Don called Older Daughter on the house phone to confirm calls could go through.

Don's phone call to Older Daughter was plainly audible to the phone rep I had on the other end of the flip phone. This rep spoke flawless English, but she was clearly foreign (my guess: Southeast Asian). Throughout our interaction, she was nothing but polite, kind, and professional, but then she broke character to say something personal. "It sounds like you have a very happy family," she observed. "I hope you understand how blessed you are."

This out-of-the-blue observation startled me for some reason. I have no idea what this lady hears or experiences on a daily basis, but she must talk to all kinds of customers. I just found it interesting that she would make such an observation seemingly from nowhere.

But neither am I arguing. We are a happy family, and we do understand how blessed we are. I hope this phone rep, whoever she is, is equally blessed.