Sometimes Life Will Surprise You

I had to call the social security administration just the other day.

Needed some info.

As you recall I shut myself out of their website by trying to fake my way through their Q&A validation process.

Now I'm thinking I will call them and sit on hold for 4 hours. When I get through I will have to deal with some obnoxious no nothing cretin. I will get angry, I will get frustrated, I will end up smashing the phone to pieces.

I call anyway. Got no choice.

I offer up the requisite info to a warm computer voice and hunker down for The Big Wait.

Computer man tells me they are experiencing large call volume and there is a 17 minute wait.

Would I like them to call me back when the wait is up?

What? What did I just hear? Are you serious?

I recovered from my shock and said "hell yeah, baby", figuring it would be an hour and a half before they returned my call.

Fifteen minutes later I got the call back.

Blown away.

The woman I spoke to was knowledgeable, positive and upbeat, answered every question I asked satisfactorily, even re-answered questions that I did not originally understand the answer to.

We had a pleasant chat, she wished me luck and mentioned that there was a survey I could take if I just stayed on the line.

I don't do surveys. I am a very important person. I do not have a lot of time on my hands.

I stayed on the line. Gave glowing compliments to the service I got. Hung up the phone and danced around the kitchen kicking out my legs, gesticulating with my arms, propelled by the inspiring afterglow of my enjoyable experience with the social security administration.

The social security administration.

Sometimes life will surprise you. In a good way.