The Needy

Recently a topic popped up in which the demanding nature of customers was considered. A friend I have in the heating and cooling business was expressing some frustration with his business and made the comment that “there is no such thing as a heating and cooling emergency”. Now, while certainly one might argue that there truly could be a very pressing need for an elderly or ill person to need their furnace or air conditioner repaired ASAP or maybe in big commercial applications such as hospitals and nursing homes it may be considered a vital repair, but otherwise that is a true statement.

You see we live in an era of incredible comfort. For those born in my era, we know all too well that it isn’t the end of the world when the air conditioner isn’t working. Air conditioning is not a necessity. I grew up without it. We got by; we did not die. Every year we do hear of people dying in the inner cities where some of the poor have no air conditioning, but I expect they die because they haven’t done anything at all to prevent their homes from rising to excessive temperatures. I would have to see the individual facts of each case. For the sake of this blog, we are speaking merely of the average situation.

I speak on this topic with some authority, I have spent the last 32 years working in the service business, much of the time installing and repairing telephone lines. I have worked in every economic and social environment that exists. I have worked in the homes of the rich and famous (well, as famous as you can get in St. Louis), and I have been in the poorest of the poor. I can tell you this; the poor were much less demanding than the well-to-do. The poor were glad to see you and very appreciative, the rich carry an attitude of expectation that your sole purpose in life is to come solve their problem without regard to anyone else’s need. But I have digressed here, the topic of the rich and the poor is for another day.

The point I am trying to make is that we have become spoiled brats. Americans are soft and are overbearing in their demands. We carry around devices that provide instant gratification of our desires. We can communicate instantly with all of our cell phones. We can watch movies on demand and do so no matter where we are. We have food available at our beck and call. When I was a kid a baked potato required at least an hour or more to cook….now it’s a 6 minute microwave experience. You can even buy them at Wal-Mart already cleaned and packaged for microwaving.

We refuse to suffer in any way. We have pills for everything and self-help books for all emotional malaises, which promise instant relief. We drive everywhere with our windows up controlling our environment through heaters and air conditioners in our cars. When I started at the phone company we didn’t even have power steering or automatic transmissions in our trucks, now if a technician’s air conditioning breaks on his truck, it has to be repaired immediately. Recently in the news there was an article in the paper that chastised the Cardinal baseball team for not moving a couple of scheduled day games to the evening because it was hot during the day. In my early days all games were played in the daytime. I don’t recall any fan ever dying from watching a ball game in the heat. If you have a health problem then stay home for Pete’s sake. Don’t even get me going about indoor stadiums. I went to the Dome for a Ram’s game once and couldn’t even stomach it for more than the first half…..football was meant to be played in the elements, not in some pristine environment that looks and feels more like a hospital.

No wonder we whine when the power goes out or the air conditioner breaks. We are for the most part a bunch of babies. Now I am all for convenience. I like AC. I like heat. I like electric lights. But I understand that all of these wonderful gadgets are things that God has blessed us with. I do not view them as if I must have them to live; I view them as gifts from God to enjoy and thank Him every day for. I thank Him daily for bringing me into this world in an era of ease. I appreciate the men and women who earn their living working long hours and in sometimes difficult weather conditions to keep them up and running.

Several years ago I was working on my equipment during a major power outage across the St. Louis area. Since my equipment requires commercial power to operate, I have to work long hours throughout any power outage to keep the phone, internet, and TV aspects of AT&T running. I had been on the job for over 40 straight hours, having slept maybe 20 minutes in the cab of my truck. Often people see our trucks and think we are the power company. So this guy walks up and then after seeing I wasn’t able to fix his power, he starts ragging on the power company guys. He says that his power has been out for 2 days and here he drives by Pasta House and sees 3 Ameren-UE trucks sitting there and that just isn’t right, they need to be getting the power fixed. I laid into that guy good…..I asked him if thought those guys were robots? I asked him if he ever went 40 hours without sleep. I asked him if he ever climbed a 40’ pole in a pair of climbers and hung for two hours in the dark with a flashlight stuffed in his shirt trying to see while wiping sweat out of his eyes after having been stung earlier in the day by 5 wasps that had a nest built behind a transformer. I asked him if his children and his wife ever ask him when he’s coming home and been upset because he missed his son’s last 3 ballgames. I asked him if he ever went to a funeral for his friend and co-worker who at the age of 42 was killed when he accidently grabbed a hot 600 volt line. I really didn’t say all that, but I wanted to. I did explain that those men were doing the best they can and they are entitled to eat once in awhile.

I don’t usually find much in myself or others to say I am proud of, I believe all glory must be given to God. But I have been honored to work in the service business where we try and keep all of this nation’s people satisfied and comfortable. Sometimes I have even been part of vital repairs to things like 911 services and to hospitals and firehouses. I am not personally looking for accolades or even a thank you. I just want people to have patience and to be considerate when dealing with men like those power company men or the heating and air conditioning repairman. Appreciate the cop or the paramedic working on Christmas Day. Understand that in most circumstances you can live without most of what you have. Get on your knees every night and thank your Father in Heaven who provides all things.