southwest -- i'm pissed

please consider this a rant. posted below is a response i just sent to southwest customer service to a huge problem that occurred yesterday. you're going to have to glean what happened from this note cause i really have no desire to go through it all. suffice it to say per the title --i'm really pissed!


I am writing to indicate my extreme dissatisfaction with the responses I have received regarding my issue yesterday. Your little Facebook stunt created significant problems for me, which I feel were barely acknowledged by the emails I received -- two of which were clearly form letters. Even the one that was a more personalized response to my long wait time email seemed to be oblivious to the magnitude of the issue. 

I have had over two thousand dollars debited from my bank account as a result of the problems created by your promotion -- a promotion by the way I had no idea was occurring and did not apply to my airfare nor was there an offer given to me when I finally got to speak to someone at 4 am in the morning. To that point, the email indicated that my problem was resolved at 4 am. What your customer service rep neglected to notice though was that the problem was resolved because I called customer service at 4 am. I can assure you that is not my normal time for waking up on a Saturday morning but given my four hour wait the night before, I felt it was necessary to get the problem resolved. Meanwhile, I will have to wait until Monday or Tuesday to have the refund hit my bank account -- a continued inconvenience that once again your responses did not begin to address.

I write this more as an exercise to vent my own frustrations about this situation, which I thought were past me until I received the responses to my emails. It is clear that Southwest has little regard for me as a customer, deciding to paint my issues in a rosy picture of the excitement about your promotion. I  have two flights coming up, following which Southwest will move to my airline of last resort. I state "last resort" as it is likely due to work or some unforeseen circumstance that I may have to fly your airline. You should know that if that situation does occur, it will not be as a result of a lack of trying on my part to find some alternative means for travel. 

three times a charm

the counterbalance to that fatalism has been a hope/belief that God is good and love is still the most powerful force in our world.

i wrote that sentence in an email this morning as i was explaining another comment i had written -- a comment i no longer believe is true. so it appears life has given me another chance at love with my first, true and only love (that is if he hasn't changed his mind overnight). i won't spend a lot of time pondering what brought our roads back together. I will just be grateful that they are merging once again and will commit myself that they do not separate again until we are called back into communion with the One from whom all love comes.

i can't help but imagine the judgements that will come from family and friends with this decision. to all who read this blog and may feel critical of our choice, i ask one favor. with every recriminating thought, please lift a prayer for us, that our love will be enough to heal, to hold us fast to one another, to keep us true, and to make us happy.

and now to my beloved i dedicate two songs. the first is about something that it took this last year of separation to realize that it truly applies to how i feel about us (though given a choice, i'd go with good times with you). the second is a hope, a prayer, and a wish that the sentiments expressed in that song will be how we feel about one another when we rise in the morning, as we work through the day, and as we close our eyes for slumber at night.

i meant what i said last night. i love you. i always have. i know now more than ever i always will.

i'd rather by luther vandross

lucky by jason mraz and colbie caillat

opening doors

i've opened this door to let you in. not sure how you will feel about what you see in this recorded history. it is who i have been, who i am, and who i will become.

sigh

just heard a song and felt the need to post it here. it's performed by one of my favorite singers and is from what is likely my all time favorite album (definitely in the top two). it says what my heart longs for but my head is completely perplexed as to what that really is. it's confusing. believe me, i know (click on the song title to be taken to the you tube video).

come down from the tree -- audra mcdonald

room enough

it's been a very busy last month or so. i state that not so much as an explanation for my absence from this space but more as a simple statement of fact. i was catching up with my mother yesterday and telling her how hectic the pace has seemed. she asked me if it was too much for me. i responded that it's not that what i had to do was beyond my capabilities, it was just the sheer volume of activity was a phenomenon to which i needed to get adjusted.

i was thinking about that observation this morning and realized that while i may be able to handle the work load, the energy expended in doing so is not leaving me much capacity to handle anything else. i haven't done anything social outside of work in months. i spend much of my time on weekends either sleeping or running basic errands. i still have furnishings to buy and boxes to unpack. i have not yet found a church (though it is on my list of intended goals to accomplish) and i really need to get on finding my basic health service providers (doctor, dentist, optometrist, etc.).

lately, as i lie in bed late at night i find myself both thankful for my blessings and a little melancholy over what i view as the essential thing i lack. i wonder if i have room enough in my life for a relationship (particularly when even finding the time and energy to pursue one seems to be eluding me). i have had moments recently when i've remembered with startling clarity that relationships are not always love notes and candy kisses, but can often be opportunities for disappointing the person you love by not being as engaged as they would like you to be. in a time when i'm not sure that i'm being fully present to even myself how could i even hope to meet the expectations of someone else?

new year, new hope

there's something about the turning of the calendar to a new year that never fails to revitalize me. sometimes that new energy comes on like gangbusters. other times it's a slight lift out of despair to just sadness. whatever the form though, i tend to approach a new year with a sense of possibility. my last entry was about sharing songs of loss and longing as they reflected my mood at the time. today i want to share a song that's about new hope (as per the norm, click on the title to launch the song). while i wish i could say that the joy this song expresses is both consistent and persistent within me, i have to admit that it really is more like looking out at a cloudy sky and seeing a break of sunlight far out on the horizon. i can say that i'm at least hopeful that it's heading in my direction. that's progress.

no more rain -- kylie minogue