You Can't Fix Stupid

I had a couple of titles ready for todays post.  "The Sound Of Silence" was one.  "The Iceman Cometh" was another.

Turns out there's nothing that recaps this weekends drama better than "You Can't Fix Stupid." 

We see it everyday and SM and I are becoming very afraid of what the world will become as the general IQ of the public decreases.

Stupid number one?  Friday afternoon I bugged out early from work because we were expecting an ice event right at the evenings rush hour.  There is a simple fact in this world that makes life easier for my employers.  They just need to accept it. 

Tami don't do bumper cars no more.

After 15 years in the South, I know an expensive situation when I see one.  Southerners and winter weather do not mix.  But it appears that the majority of the locals either enjoy the thrill of ice skating inside their expensive cars or relish the aggravation that comes with dealing with insurance companies and car body shops. 

The local TV news reported that law enforcement answered upwards of 300 accidents Friday evening.

Stupid number two?  We woke up Saturday encased in ice and grateful that we still had power.  The TV was on.  But we had no internet or phone. 

Huh. 

I shrugged it off as some residual funk from the ice and figured things would magically fix themselves once the ice melted.  By 2pm though I wondered what was up.  So I borrowed SM's cell phone and buzzed Deb across the street.  No problems there.

Huh.

So I turned this over to SM to deal with since he just LOVES to talk with Time Warner Cable customer service representatives.




"Be nice."  I told him, knowing it was a stupid thing to say to him.  SM is every CSR's worst nightmare. 

So after turning the modem thing on and off and pulling various cords the general opinion from TWC was to schedule a service call.

Monday at 7 am was the best they could do. 

Fine.  I can deal.

(SM admits to calling TWC two more times to bitch and complain about their product.  Of course he waited to make those calls when I wasn't around.)

So 7am sharp this morning I let the TWC service guy in, all the while acting as a human barrier between SM and him.  (Thankfully SM had just woken up and wasn't firing on all cylinders.) 

TWC dude walked over to the modem and pulled out the battery.  "They didn't tell you to pull the battery out to reset the modem did they?"  He asked.

"It's that simple?"  I asked as I hovered between SM and the TWC dude while SM, his voice rising, said..."I talked to three different people and none of them said anything about pulling out a battery!  This thing has a battery?"

TWC dude tactfully went to check the phone while I spun around giving SM the raised eyebrows and said softly..."Be nice.  He's here to fix things.  It's not his fault he works for idiots."

"But I want him to know how pissed off I am."  SM replies.

"Trust me.  He knows."  I said waving him down.  "Besides it's only 7am.  Nobody deserves to be bitched at 7am."

So 30 seconds later, we're good to go.  TWC guy came to the door to have me sign off on the job.  "I'm really sorry that they didn't tell you about the reset battery and I put a note in the computer that they didn't tell you about it."

"Well...We all work with stupid, don't we?"  I said.

"Just have him mention my service notes when he calls to complain."  TWC dude says with a sleepy smile.  I laugh. 

He knows what I'm about.

"Hey.."  I tilt my head at him and pat him on the shoulder.  "Nobody deserves to get yelled at first thing in the morning.  Have a good day!"  I say going back into the house.

SM and I part to our respective computers, reassuring ourselves that we are once more connected to the great big world.

SM then sits down to watch some morning news on the TV. 

After a few minutes SM says to me "You know the real reason they created the Internet was to fill the void of really bad TV."

I laugh. 

Yep...Dumb and Dumber.  Hey, another good title for this post!