Today I spent two hours and twenty-seven minutes on the phone with Vijay in India. Vijay works on the Help Desk for Microsoft, and worked tirelessly to make my T-Mobile Hotspot account work at Starbucks. I do think that without the slight language barrier we encountered more than once, that bordering-on-three hours might have been cut down a bit, but, nonetheless.
Here's what I learned from Vijay:
- If they have Starbucks in India, Vijay is unaware of it. In fact, Vijay has never heard of Starbucks. So, either the long arm of Starbucks is not quite so long, or Vijay, bless his decaffeinated heart, is out of the loop.
- It's about 80 degrees in India today, at least in Vijay's corner of it. According to Vijay, their weather consists of "hot, hotter, and hottest."
- Microsoft Tech Support apparently does not have levels. When Vijay started retracing ground I'd already covered with both T-Mobile & Sharp tech support, I asked -- nicely -- if I could be fast-tracked to the Level 2 support person. Vijay said, "I'm sorry? I'm not understanding." Later, after my friendship with Vijay was firmly cemented, I felt badly for asking that someone higher up take my case.
- Vijay may not be a big fan of his homeland. When I said I'd like to visit India someday, Vijay paused, then said something like, "Hummumm."
- Typing "Run" and "msconfig" can take you to all kinds of interesting places.
Here's what I learned about myself:
- I'll go to any lengths to get online. I could have simply come home and used my own wireless access, but no, I
needed to be at Starbucks, paying $40 a month to be online there and, thus, had to spend two and a half hours with tech support.
- I can help myself. After working side-by-side (or, phone-by-phone) with Vijay, and coming home to find my home wireless no longer worked, I employed my new education from him to fix my own wireless problem.
- I like my nonfat gingerbread latte at 140 degrees. Perfectly ready to drink.
Vijay, if I were wearing a hat, I'd take it off to you. Instead, when I go back out in the unseasonably cold weather, I'll put on the hood of my sweatshirt, then take that off when I get back inside, all in your honor.