Lilly Sway

This week I was overtaken by an outrageous bill from my electric company. I was robbed and stripped of my dignity in less than a moment. (Once I had actually been allowed to speak to a real person) The company that I have employed to provide our home with electricity for the last thirty years has become a money mongrel: a pig of enormous, insatiable, glutinous, inconsiderate pomposity. This proposed reliable company has the audacity to profess to give you, the people that it feeds on, customer care. I have been thwarted in that respect. Left, shall we say: holding the bag and up the creek without a paddle. This company can only blindly consume its dues and more without ever conceding to the fact that they are capable of making gross errors. I say this only because they have made five mistakes, that’s right (5) in a row. Now, after I’ve paid my electric bills for four months, and they were quite high, I am left to comprehend that they are charging me a $1,600.00 bill that includes errors THEY made in August to September, then September to October, then October to November. They’ve told me that they found our bill to be incorrect and that we were not charged properly. In response, I asked them to come out and read the meter again. They said that this is after the fact and that they could do no adjustments for me. So, if I am to understand that if they can do no adjustments for me, now, after the fact. Then; how is it that they can do after the fact adjustments for themselves, FOUR MONTHS LATER? I think that I have the answer, and it’s not pretty. It is that they, the big, all-powerful company has simply decided that I have to pay what they are charging me simply because they are the big, all-powerful company. I propose, that they are clearly in possession of everything: computers, employees, and access to all of my electricity usage for the last 30 years. They flaunt this capability by professing to be efficient. Then why aren’t they also efficient in sending me a bill that is accurate in the first place and issued in a concise manner. If they can just say that they found a $1,600.00 error and I’m expected to believe they are founded, then that would mean that I also have to believe that all of my bills from August all the way to November and the past thirty years were correct. There, as clear as day, you have the problem that I am now faced with. If I went and purchased gasoline that was advertised on the sign as three dollars a gallon and stopped the pump on six dollars, for my lawn mower. When I get to the counter I fully expect to pay $6.00 and not a cent more. In a real business transaction the customer gets what he pays for in a timely, satisfying manner, fully aware of the cost and the method of pricing. I have to say that if the attendant had asked me for $ 6.00 and .20 cents, after the fact, I would have to challenge this reasoning. Which is just why I have burdened you, the people out there reading this, with a question. Fair is Fair but if you’re the little guy how fair is it? The unreliable, inconsistent, unfriendly energy company has now backed me into the corner and is trying to rob me as if I were being held up at gunpoint. No, they aren’t actually pointing a gun at me, but if I refuse to pay this outrageous bill than I will be left in “the dark”. This is what I am feeling, I’m completely at their mercy or lack of it. I have asked for help and there is no one that seems to want to help me. They just say:

“Oh, you mean that it is the electric company that you have a problem with? Well, if you are trying to fight them, you need an army of lawyers that would well exceed the amount of money that they are charging you. So, do the smart thing, just pay the bill, it would be the smartest thing to do.”

That’s right, the lawyer that I went to, said the smart thing is what I should do. Wow! Have any of you ever been in a situation that left you overcome by an overwhelming livid feeling, so profound that you could spit in someone’s eye? While he was stomping on all of my dignity, he had the impudence, along with his consultation fee, to say “Just DO the right thing”. I’m the little guy here, and I am being accosted while my stability is being threatened. Oh yeah, I am trying hard to do the right thing. I just can’t seem to find one single person who can help me do the right thing. Now beaten and robbed, I have to just adjust my thoughts of what is Fair and do without so that I can feed the monster that call itself Reliant Energy. What a crock…

Food for the Mind

Lilly Sway

Yesterday was a rainy day there were yellow raincoats running all around the elementary school the rain came down in sheets but thankfully the sun was still shining very strong until I got to the area where my children wait for me to pull up for them but as it was finally my turn the rain only came down harder, after loading them up and trying to exit the school grounds we noticed a neighbor’s car had broken down, we stopped and asked if someone was coming for them, she said that her husband was stuck on the other side of town in traffic so we offered them a ride home we then all piled up in our vehicle and headed to her street, she looked in the mirror to see what her children were laughing at, her makeup was running so she had raccoon eyes as her son called them and we all had a big life. After dropping them off we continued along with a smile as we got back on our regular route to the middle school the rain continued to pour, as we approached the school we saw no raincoats, that’s right not here, it would simply not be acceptable to carry one, thank goodness umbrellas are still okI made my daughters take one ( some how they were still soaking wet). When I finally made my way through traffic towards them as I opened the door I could see that they were with 5 other teens, before I could say anything they all jumped in they were soaked to the bone, the rain clouds had covered the beautiful sun which meant driving in it was dangerous enough and having kids trying to dodge cars while running across the big 4 lane street was out of the question in all good conscience it was really hectic traffic on a regular day much less on a day like today, so I did not protest and we went along our way laughing as we left wet teens here and there. I finally closed in on my particular neighborhood street but only made it half way my son called me and said that he had caught a ride to his nearby campus for afternoon classes, the professor had not come in because of the flooding in his area so classes were cancelled and his ride had already left the parking lot which left him in need of a ride home, as we pulled onto the campus my daughters jumped into the front seat, before I could ask them what they were doing I saw my son standing in the rain with two of his friends I pulled up beside them rolled the window down and asked if someone was in need of a ride they all laughed. A little rain can bring many people your way you could find yourself in a good mood after driving in it all day so the next time the weather tries to block out the sunshine make your own even if it is in a crowded vehicle full of wet people, well today is looking like more rain is coming our way. Taxi any one?

Food for the Mind

Lilly’s Way