The most troubling portion of this communication, of course, is the disconcerting phrase…we hope to…right before the estimated resumption of service time. Not to pick on the County, but my dealings with the various levels of government during my 6 plus decades on this planet have not been characterized by adjectives such as timely or dependable. So, you’ll have to excuse me if my mind has gone to dark places when contemplating this day.
Of course, the difference between me and my wife is that instead of sitting around dreaming up worst case scenarios, she simply sent an unbelievably nice and polite email to the Henrico County Department of Public Utilities, Construction Division to register her concerns of what this water interruption might mean for families expected Thanksgiving visitors and whatnot, asking the question on everyone’s mind, “Is there anyway this could possibly be rescheduled until the week after Thanksgiving?”
I have always believed that my wife is the kindest person I know, and nowhere is this kindness displayed more vividly than in her written communications. She has an amazing talent for making even the most contentious subjects sound completely benign. She could make an eviction letter sound like an invitation to tea! Anyway, she sends this email and in less than an hour she gets a telephone call from none other than Zuzanna Lesniak, the utilities inspector for this project. Ms. Lesniak could not have been any nicer. She explained the emergency nature of the work, that it could not be postponed to next week, and assured her that every attempt will be made to do the needed repair as expediently as possible. Then they chatted about their plans for Thanksgiving and made plans to get coffee next week. (Just kidding), but if they had it would not have surprised me.
So, we are about to find out what the word “expedient” means when it is used by Utilities Inspectors who work for Henrico County. We will discover whether or not their “hope” in a 3:00 pm completion time was justified.
In the meantime, I’ve got 24 minutes left to brush my teeth.
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