hold on there

i’ve been having problems with my internet. which always entails long waits on the provider’s automated phone system. this time was no different. i called the 1-800-[company name here] number to get a system that didn’t recognize my information at all. (the last time this happened i hadn’t paid my bill by the past due date. oops! but i knew that hadn’t happened this time.) this nice woman collected all of my information but still couldn’t find me in the system. she put me on hold to confirm why she couldn’t find me. the hold music was dreadful! sort of a cheap baroque tea party piece. painful. luckily she wasn’t gone long. and she then gave me a different number for the company specific to my region. this number led me to an office and a woman who had nothing to do with the company, but had had several other callers trying to reach the internet provider. weird. so then i actually called the number on my bill. duh! should have done that from the beginning! so then i get right through. to a message telling me that i was part of a large technical issue with the internet. (by the way it’s still down as i write this. although the woman i finally spoke to said that service was back up in my area. yeah right!) then i’m placed on hold because of the large call volume. surprising! i’m sure there were plenty of people like me who are like “what the *@!$ happened to my internet and when will i get it back”?!?!?! so anyways… the hold music was pretty awesome. an 80s jazz pop thing, really nice.

you know the only hold music i don’t like? silence. you don’t know if the call has dropped or not. or if the “representative” (because they aren’t operators anymore) gave up on you. it’s deadly. especially if you have to experience any more than a couple of minutes of it. sallie mae, this means you.