Whelmed… not over-whelmed

When you work for God you get a lot to do because you believe in his will. If you’re not being given a lot to do you can enjoy being that too.
© 2009

Wellllll… I didn’t tell you about my actual 2010 introduction to Charlotte…. I’ve actually been a resident since June 1, when I drove my stuff down from Chicago. Three friends (Barry Mixon, Mike Simmons and Tommie Hubbard) (former New Yorkers, with Mike & Tommie having grown up on the same block as me) in Chicago helped me load the 16’ truck on Sunday, May 30. Barry packed the truck like a professional, showing us how important it is to ‘layer’ the loading. I’m not gonna try to explain.

Unfortunately, neither of the 3 was in Charlotte to help me unload. So I unloaded for 2 days, in 5 shifts, beginning at 11am. I wasn’t worried about anyone helping. Just smiled and encouraged myself to enjoy the exercise. Still, I prayed that I get help with my mattress, as it was the only wobbly thing that I would not be able to load onto the hand-truck and ease down the steps. You half-guessed it… a guy showed up when I was half way down, and offered to assist. It was 5pm, and time to end Shift 2 because I had enough stuff in to get some rest. Barry must have known… he had positioned the mattress in the perfect spot on the truck. Wellllll… that’s not the story.

Thursday, June 3 I returned the truck to Budget Rentals. On Friday, June 4 it was time to pick up my rental car to drive back to Chicago on Saturday. I took the city bus to the airport Budget Car counter. After 90% of our process was complete the agent informed me that the system was denying me rental based on my credit score, and that I would have to dial the 800 number… which gave me nothing but automated prompts to contact them online and by snail mail.

Wellllll… there was no place for me to have a margarita, so I sat down and proceeded to call my bank. The agent informed me that there was nothing the bank could do; because there was nothing wrong with my account… it was my credit score. I thanked him for sharing his 16 year experience with me, yet informed him that I didn’t have many other options and wanted to ‘hear’ my bank. Ultimately my bank did tell me the same thing the agent told me.

Knowing that I had no intention of being stuck in Charlotte, I calmly asked the agent to give me other options. He finally came up with the idea that Hertz might rent, since they were the only agency that didn’t require an airline ticket from an out of state renter. He drove me to their lot.

While on line I weighed the pros & cons of being waited on by the rookie rental agent: would she skip a step, or follow the rule tighter than the experienced agent? She ended up needing the help from the experienced agent PLUS the shift supervisor (yikes!). The supervisor followed the rule tight… and handed me the keys to the car. I congratulated and blessed the rookie on her new career. It was good to see someone excited about learning.

When I left the lot I drove back to Budget and located the agent who had assisted me. I assured him that he had been a blessing to many people in the past that probably had not gotten the chance to thank him… so I wanted to take the time to do so. In fact, on behalf of those whom you’ve helped by doing your job… thank you.

How appreciated do you feel about the job you do? Do you feel over whelmed… or whelmed?