Costly Conversations and Hot Muggy Nights

In case you were on the edge of your seats about our cell phone provider, I must confess that we did end up staying with AT&T after I spoke with a customer service rep that "gets it." She understood that I should not have had to endure 2-3 hours of my time dealing with AT&T and understands the value of keeping a customer happy. We ended up getting $100 for our troubles if we signed a new contract. So we are waiting for the iPhone to arrive at the AT&T store (7-10 days), and my husband will once again feel connected to the world in a week or so.

As a marketer, I thought about the cost of my interactions from AT&T's perspective. If AT&T had a different policy, where we weren't charged for the service once we shut it off, they would have only lost $39.99 ($30 for data, $9.99 for 2nd line). I have no idea what the cost of talking with reps for 2-3 hours is for AT&T, and we wound up getting $100 for our inconvience, $9.99 refund for his line, no charge for his data plan until we activate the service again (within 30 days). We've all heard it's more expensive to get a new customer than to keep an old one. AT&T could have avoided a lot of cost if they empowered their reps more, and understood their customer. We would happily provide a police report number to show we were not trying to work the system. Oh well, maybe someone at AT&T will read this and revise their policies if someone gets mugged; especially considering they have a Customer Satisfaction award they boast on their web site.

I continue to stop random people on the street that are so engrossed in their smart phones that they are just screaming "come and mug me" - and everyone seems to be appreciative of the advice. Just today, I stopped a woman walking down Southport Corridor, she was checking messages on her smart phone and had her purse over one shoulder, her wallet tucked under her other arm, and phone in hand. She pointed out to me how careless she was after I warned her, and hopefully she'll spread the word to be safe and be aware - we do live in a city after all.

As I'm writing today's post, my AC is getting fixed; a few nights ago it felt unusually warm (I'm normally frozen in our home). It turns out the pilot light went out, and the circuit board needed to be replaced. The pilot light affected the hot water heater, so poor little C had to take a cold bath one night, and he screamed his head off. My husband couldn't understand why...oy! Eventually, the screaming stopped, and we convinced our sweet little boy that it was okay to sleep naked since the AC was broken.

I should mention that our 2.5 year old likes to compare and check for similarities. So after we told him he would be sleeping naked, he promptly asked, "Mommy, you sleep naked too?" in his sweet little innocent voice. We instantly realized the precarious situation we were imposing on ourselves, and corrected our statement by saying, "well, you will sleep in your diaper, and mommy will sleep in her underwear. It's too hot for pajamas." We can only hope that he chose to talk about other things at daycare.

Ah, to be a parent of a toddler, it always keeps you on your toes. I will say there is much to be learned at this stage, and the biggest lesson I've taken away is how critical it is to communicate clearly about expectations, setting the context, and how to properly interact with each other. I'm no saint, by any means, and I do occassionally lose my patience (like when I have to go to the bathroom and he's stalling in the parking lot watching a bug in wonder) - but I continue to try and give my best effort and remind myself that he's the 2.5 year old, and I'm the adult. It's comical, really.

Speaking of the little bugger, it's time for me to pick him up from daycare, head over to Trader Joe's so he can push the grocery cart around (he's really good at it), and we can try a new recipe, a peanut inspired broccoli and beef dish - yum!

I thought I'd end with my daily gratitudes:
1. My husband - We had a fabulous date last night at Jazzin' at the Shedd (without the kid). We got to feel a live star fish, see a baby beluga (did you know they start out grey and as they age they turn white - truly beautiful animals), listen to Jazz, ran into a friend who now works there, and just enjoyed walking around and holding hands.
2. My parents - for always wanting little C to sleep over, and allowing us to enjoy some adult time (see #1).
3. Job search - all I'll say is that there is positive activity for both of us.
4. Health - my family is lucky that we are not dealing with anything serious - I've heard a few too many stories about people we know, or friends of friends - and we are sending prayers and well wishes for everyone to get healthy soon.
5. Time - the summer is flying by, but I also feel like I've enjoyed it. Next week the weather is supposed to be gorgeous, so I'm planning on a few rollerblading and running sessions on the lake. Want to join me?

I hope you all have a safe and fun time these last few weeks of summer. I'll be writing again soon - especially after the exciting weekend plans we have!