AT&T U-Curse

In my entire life, I've never had cable TV. It took my stuborn father something silly like three years to even update from 56k to high speed Internet. (Back then, I had to anticipate masturbation. I'd have to hope I found a video, wait a very long time for it to load, and then, sorry, unload.)

Ever since the digital transition on June 12th, we have had trouble getting TV signal correctly. My parents spend a lot of time at night watching the tube in their respective recliners with their tired feet up; They have their programs programmed out. The interruped signal got so bad that my father called AT&T to schedule for U-verse. (Sidebar: How bad is that name? Come on.)

On Tuesday at 9:30 am, AT&T called to say they'd be coming out to our house. We didn't know it, but ComEd was doing some electrical testing and upgrades that day too and at 9:45 am, our power went out. AT&T came and went because they said they couldn't do any work without electricity. I know they could have looked around and got a plan all flushed out, but I'll throw them a bone and let it slide.

The next day, a single guy comes to hook up five rooms of cable and one room of Ethernet. Well, that didn't happen. The guy they sent out was nice and knew how to navigate through the TV menus, but I'm fairly sure I know more about electricity and wiring than he does. Good thing my dad was home. If it weren't for him, we might have it all done by next week (read: unacceptable.)

Flash forward to AT&T-Guy running wire in the attic above my parents' room and my Dad sitting on the bed. Step, step, FOOT. THROUGH. THE. CEILING.

I had to take pictures for the sheer surprise of it all (and for legal documentation). Just had to. I couldn't help thinking where my sick parents supposed to sleep. Not in the old-insulation ridden bed, that's for sure. AT&T said they'd turn it into the claims department. What a corporate thing to say. Hopefully we get that repaired for free and comped somehow.

If you don't know my mother, a pretty good word for her sometimes is melodramatic. When she found out about the hole a couple minutes ago, I honestly got a little scared. I don't think melodrama applies here though; I think my mom is rightfully angry. We kept it from her for a couple hours because I think we were all fearing the wrath that would ensue. She's currently sitting down and I think I just saw a little steam come out of her ears.

On the other side of things, I hope this man doesn't get fired. AT&T was stupid to send just one person for a really big job. He made an honest, human mistake and missed a support beam. He has a seven year old son. Retrain him for this type of work. Give him a partner. Change his department. I greatly dislike AT&T, but he doesn't deserve to lose his job.

I can't believe a man fell through my ceiling.

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