Relief!

The Comcast saga came to an end late yesterday morning. Today my fingers are on the keyboard of my PC and I am connected to the SCS domain. The solution was actually simple. And it is what Donny, my customer service agent at my local Comcast store, suggested to me weeks ago: Swap out the modem.

Relief is an interesting concept. Relief is defined as a feeling of reassurance and relaxation following release from anxiety or distress or assistance, especially in the form of food, clothing, or money, given to those in special need or difficulty.

Alison, I’m not sure to whom this message of appreciation should be addressed, but I want someone within the Comcast organization to know what you did for me.

I had been struggling between Comcast and my web host since October 18. On November 7, when I found you I had spent over 30 hours having to give the same information over and over, and never being able to follow up with someone I had spoken to previously.

I was rude, frustrated, angry, and you stayed right with me and assured me you would not leave me until the issue was resolved.

Although you were not able to resolve the issue that evening, you gave me your extension number and email. I became a real person to you. I cried!!! I mattered to you, and that matters to everyone.

During this period of time I was struggling with the problem with my service we had two deaths in our family. People have a lot going on….

You suggested we swap out the modem and when I got the new one the following morning, you were able to assist me to get the help from Kevin to activate it.

I sent email and left voice mail letting you know we were successful. Then you called again to make sure everything was working correctly.

Donny, at the Benton Harbor, Michigan, store was the first one to suggest we swap the modem. I wish everyone could work with you and Donny…. everyone deserves to!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

During these weeks of frustration I have said many times I recognized this as an opportunity. I have learned a lot. I learned we do not have to call Comcast and go through 30 minutes of being passed from one person to another only to have to tell them the exact information before getting to someone who cannot help you. Using the Comcast app on your phone, you can give the information once and request a call back. The appropriate person calls you back. Oh, my….

Another learning has been to see how kind the conditions are. Regardless of how challenging, right here within the conditions is kindness.

It is kindness to let it go each time no resolution was at hand.

It is kindness to persevere and make another call when I had a couple of hours. (EEK…)

It is kindness to remember nothing is a life or death matter—not even life or death.

It is not denial to say not even life or death is a life or death matter. It is truth.

Over lunch yesterday my dear friend, Jane Foster, shared that even having lived with cancer for over 35 years now she still bumps into a fear of death. “Will it hurt? Will I be alone? How will my husband handle things? How will my son get through this?”

It occurs to me these are not evidences of fear of death. They are evidences of desire to control. We want to know. We want assurances. We want things to go a certain way.

I sent out a prayer request:
I have a precious client named Jessica.

She is thirty-something…

13 months ago she was told she had 17 months to live.

Three months ago she was told she was in remission, but her most recent scan showed tumors on her liver.

She has been at MD Anderson in Houston this week and if she is a candidate for an experimental surgery and treatment she will fly back down on November 17 and have the procedure on November 19. If there are no complications she will be able to fly back to Michigan on November 22.

They were not very optimistic… Possibly extend her life six months.

She asks for help with her mental state.

Here is her Bitmoji saying:

If you are inclined to pray, please add a special prayer for the mental state of all humans. May all beings know peace. May all beings love and be loved. May all beings come to the end of suffering.

Pray for Alison and Donny and each of those who work in organizations that inflict such pain in the delivery of service. Pray for Jane Foster to embrace sacred life and sacred death. (See Corpse Prayer) Pray for Jessica as she navigates such turbulent waters.

Pray that all sentient beings feel relief….