I've been learning a lot about patience during my time in Scotland. I know I'm not the most patient person in the world, but I still have this great reverence for punctuality, something that isn't on the forefront of most folks' minds over here. Maybe it's "island time," being that it is an island, after all. But something else that I've had to cope with is a lack of mobile phone.
I've got a cel phone, and it is supposed to work. It rarely does. Text messages arrive hours after they are sent, and rarely does my phone actually ring (much less show a "missed call") when people swear they have called repeatedly. I'm not even going to bother going into the monthly trips to the Virgin store to complain about mistakes on our bill and my minutes plan, which then takes many weeks and tons of over-charges to correct. I've paid far more than I should have for a phone that rarely works. (I spend more using my old US iphone, which works perfectly over here, iMessaging friends back home who have iPhones for free.)
Maybe all this phone-not-working nonsense is a sign to inhale deeply and be free of the annoyance of phone calls. Of course, all that seems to do is annoy other people. But I shouldn't worry too much about other people, should I? Again ... a reverence for other people's time interferes...
I don't blame Scotland. We are just having bad luck with a particular phone company. If we were going to be here long-term, we'd switch companies and sign a contract. But I can't deal with horrible customer service anymore, so I've just resigned to hoping that my phone will work in an emergency, or at least when my waters break. And enjoying living a mobile-free life in the middle ages (or at least the 1970s).
I've got a cel phone, and it is supposed to work. It rarely does. Text messages arrive hours after they are sent, and rarely does my phone actually ring (much less show a "missed call") when people swear they have called repeatedly. I'm not even going to bother going into the monthly trips to the Virgin store to complain about mistakes on our bill and my minutes plan, which then takes many weeks and tons of over-charges to correct. I've paid far more than I should have for a phone that rarely works. (I spend more using my old US iphone, which works perfectly over here, iMessaging friends back home who have iPhones for free.)
Maybe all this phone-not-working nonsense is a sign to inhale deeply and be free of the annoyance of phone calls. Of course, all that seems to do is annoy other people. But I shouldn't worry too much about other people, should I? Again ... a reverence for other people's time interferes...
I don't blame Scotland. We are just having bad luck with a particular phone company. If we were going to be here long-term, we'd switch companies and sign a contract. But I can't deal with horrible customer service anymore, so I've just resigned to hoping that my phone will work in an emergency, or at least when my waters break. And enjoying living a mobile-free life in the middle ages (or at least the 1970s).
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