Bridget McNulty

Convenient inconveniences.

// April 8th, 2009 // Cape Town, Decisions, Life (and the living of it), Time

I’ve had a couple of days of fairly consistent inconveniences… that have all turned out to be really rather convenient.

Last week our landline stopped working, just out of the blue. We called Telkom, expecting it to be a long, drawn-out affair, and they promised to send out a technician. So we waited peacefully for him to arrive. And he did! Within 24 hours. And the problem was solved in less than an hour.

Then on Friday morning my cell phone went crazy, not switching on, freezing, not letting me dial out or answer calls. Without getting all uptight about it, I took it to the Vodacom care shop (it’s still under warranty) and they booked it in for repairs, no charge. It was ready in 3 hours, good as new!

That same day, my scooter got a puncture, in the back tyre. My poor man had to push it home in the dark (what a sweetheart) and I couldn’t drive it to the tyre shop (obviously). So I asked the tyre shop if they had a pick-up service (no luck) and then remembered that my insurance (1st for Women) offers free towing services. So I called to enquire, and they hooked me up with a tow truck, no problem! Best of all, they called back to tell me who the tow truck company was and what time to expect them, and then they called to check if he had arrived on time. The tow truck they sent was a six and a half tonne monster, which was great fun to ride in (it really feels as if you can just squish other cars like bugs) and it got me to the tyre shop in ten minutes. At the tyre shop, I found out I didn’t need a new tyre at all, just a plug, which cost me R35 (about $3.50) and took twenty minutes!

So out of three situations that could have been frustratingly time-consuming, irritating, and expensive, they were all simple, hassle-free and virtually free.

Now that is what I call convenient inconveniences.

(PS: I haven’t quite figured out whether it all went so smoothly because I have excellent service providers, or because I didn’t get fussed and expect it to be a mission. What do you think?)