The Silver Life - Online community and resource for active Silver Surfers

Online Community & Resource for Active Silver Surfers

The Silver Life

Online Community & Resource for Active Silver Surfers

Patience and the menu option… An oxymoron

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I’m a big fan of the comic strip, Peanuts, and the wonderful character, Lucy. I love when she sits in front of what looks like a lemonade stand, with a sign, that says, “The Doctor is in…” Well Lucy, I need you now.

Usually, I’m the one trying to relax clients that come into my office, with words of advice and encouragement, but for those of you who read my blogs, I need your help.

I’ve been away on a business trip for a few days and had to change my airline reservations. I used one of the marvelous Internet trip booking systems to originally book this flight, so making a change should be a no brainer. Right? …Wrong. Who do you call? I looked over all the information and there was no phone number. I looked everywhere, and it dawned on me that they must hide the phone number. They don’t want you to call. It took me 15 minutes of repeating many expletives, and doing research to find an 800-phone number, and then the fun began.

I dialed the number and a computer operator told me their menu had changed. I always hear that, but who cares. I’m also told I have a 15 minute wait because of unusually heavy call volume. Again, who cares whether it’s unusual or heavy, just get me to a live person. There is no live person but then a well-known television personality comes on and in a low, dulcet tone begins to read some old limericks we use to hear when we were in the 4th grade. After listening to my 11th ditty, the computer operator came on telling me I have 10 options to choose from, none of which mentioned my problem. I quickly forgot the first 5 options and then panicked. I just hit any number and the operator came on and said I now had another 10 minutes of wait time.

Guess what, the actor came back on again, and started telling stories of his first high school prom – stories that were worse than the limericks. Finally, after learning that the actor had made a fool of himself at the prom, a live voice came on that definitely had the voice inflection of living far from here. She did sound pleasant and said that her name was “Sprinkle”, or at least that is what is sounded like, but that was the last word I understood. It appeared I was at the wrong menu option and before I could scream, I was back on hold, and my friend the actor was now back on, singing old Sinatra songs, but definitely didn’t sound like Sinatra.

Finally, a friendly live voice came on, and I explained my problem. She listened attentively, and was about to offer a solution to my problem, and then a “beep” came on and I was disconnected. The best I could then manage was a 30-minute nap, a glass of red wine, and remembering some of my past bible readings.

So what do I advise my clients in this predicament? What call to action can I give? Here is my answer: Take a nap first, bring out your family bible, and take a sip of your favorite beverage before you make the 1-800 journey.

And by the way, I wrote the actor giving him advice on his failed prom date.

Take my advice for what it is…. It’s just AS I SEE IT.

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About the Author: Leonard F. Baer

Leonard Baer's practice focuses on Elder Law, and Estate Planning. His previous experience was in the area of complex criminal litigation, serving as Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Division for The United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida. Mr. Baer was recognized by the Office of The Attorney General, as one of the top prosecutors in the country during his tenure. He has been included in North Carolina Top Rated Lawyers, a distinction awarded to those lawyers recognized by their colleagues as leaders in their field. He has also been recognized by the Florida Bar, for his efforts in representing seniors and their families, who are victims of scams and fraud. Mr. Baer is an AV rated lawyer listed in Martindale-Hubbell, and has been selected for inclusion in their Bar Registrar of Preeminent Lawyers, which for over 90 years, includes only those select law practices that have earned their highest rating. He has been designated by Martindale-Hubbell as preeminent in his field, and in the top 5% of all lawyers practicing in the United States. Mr. Baer has also been ranked by AVVO, an online Legal Directory of over 200,000 lawyers nationally, as Superb, their highest rating. He served as adjunct professor of Sports Law at The University of Miami, and is a frequent lecturer on the topics of Elder Law, Estate Planning, Asset Protection and Fraud Protection. He has been a columnist for several newspapers for over 13 years and currently has a nationally syndicated blog, “As I See It” with a readership of over 25,000. Leonard is a Guest Contributor of The Silver Life and has recently launched a new service called SuddenlySolo1 - https://www.legalbaer.com/services/suddenly-solo/

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