The "gift" of caring

Yes, there is hope. . .

I have this belief that every single individual is blessed with a natural “gift”, talent, or positive trait that helps make him or her extra special. Of course, it’s just a matter of finding it. Whether it’s music, art, intellect, sports, or even humor, we all have something extra and unique that makes us different from the next person.

In talking with a friend over the weekend, I heard a heartwarming story that reminded me of an example of one such endearing and wonderful “gift” . . .

According to her story, my friend recently lost complete internet service at her home during the period of heavy storms. When it became apparent that service wouldn’t immediately return, she placed a service call to her internet provider for help.

Upon arrival, the maintenance person immediately checked the situation to assess the problem. After surveying all of the various equipment and connections, he finally narrowed in on the cause. Evidently, a completely different service provider, while earlier working at a neighbor’s residence, had unhooked some of the community wires on the local power pole connecting the various houses in the neighborhood, but upon finishing never bothered to reconnect the internet wires to my friend’s residence.

Of course, bonehead mistakes do happen, and in this day and age we’ve come to expect them. However, in this case it was a comedy of errors, because the whole area was in the midst of serious storms, restoring coverage became a much more difficult issue. With high wires and power poles involved, the permanent fix required access to large “bucket truck”, which of course, was unavailable for several days due to other related weather problems.

But to hear my friend describe what happened next is truly heartwarming and motivating, reminding us that sometimes human nature can surprise us . . . in a good way.

She went on to tell me about the amazing job that the maintenance person then performed. Not deterred in the least that a bucket truck was not available, he came up with a temporary fix:

1) He took the initiative to contact the neighbor next door to gain permission to tap into their line,

2) He then somehow worked his way up the pole to jury-rig a joint connection to the neighbor’s service for a temporary solution until a bucket truck could be scheduled,

3) He did this all in a driving rainstorm, and finally,

4) He made arrangements for follow-up service and a permanent fix for when the truck was available.

This whole story reminded me of the wonderful human trait that was displayed here – i.e., the “gift” of caring. And frankly, having witnessed firsthand my share of good and bad customer service over the years, I can pretty much assure this service person wasn’t required or mandated by his company to apply such an extraordinary level of customer service or resourcefulness to the situation. It was just part of his DNA, and the fact that he really cared enough to do everything he could to help.

So, here’s to my friend’s story, and to that very special service person, wherever he is. He represents his company, his position, himself, and humankind, as someone who goes the extra mile, and above all, exemplifies the extraordinary “gift” of caring.