Customer Service

Me, going into a shop, trying to top up my phone plan.

--Hi, I’d like to top up my phone please.

--What do you want? (Not in a mean way, but not in a very friendly one either)

--I had a 20 £ Freedom Freebie (that’s the actual name of it, I’m not making up funny-sounding words here) and I’d like to renew it for this month.

--Okay. Our system had problems this morning, so it might not work.

--I’m sorry?

--Our computer system in all our shops crashed, so it might not work.

--Okay… (unsure of what else to say)

--I’ll check. (I’m terribly sorry that you have to do something for my money)

--(stares at screen) Yeah, It doesn’t work.

--Okay…(still unsure)…so…

--Just come back – maybe in, like, an hour?

--Ah, okay…thanks!

Now I already had the urge to switch to a different network provider, but then I’d have to change my number and so on, so I decided against it. I went back into the shop about 45 min later, and there was a different girl there.

--Hi! I was here earlier, they told me to come back – I wanted to top up my phone, but there was a problem with your system-does it work now?

--Yeah, Yeah, want do you want?

--I’d like to renew my 20 £Freedom Freebie (I cringe on the inside every time I have to say this out loud.)

--Okay…(stares at screen)…that’s 20 £.

I give her the money, she hands me a receipt.

--There you go!

--(confused) How does this now work?

--Just call this number (circles number on receipt) and follow the directions.

--Ah, okay, thanks! I’ll try it right now, just in case.

She looks at me with a bewildered expression, which I ignore. So I call the number (still in the shop) follow the directions, enter the 12-digit code – and it doesn’t work. So I try again, same thing happens. So I go back.

--I’m sorry, but it doesn’t seem to work.

--Yeah, we had some problems with our system today, just try again later, maybe every 20 minutes until it works.

Ah, thank you – I have no plans today anyway.

 

An afternoon in the park

 

It might have been the perfect park experience. Is there such a thing? I was never really a park person, I didn’t spend much time in them back home - somehow there was always something wrong, always something that made them not the place to stay. But I always wanted to be the person who goes to the park to read a book. So I decided to try it out. And, surprisingly, I loved it. 

 

I went to Queen’s Park, in an attempt to get to know my new area. It was a lovely day, the sun was out, and people were enjoying it. I picked up a latte at a bakery, and strolled down to the park. I was greeted with the clichéd image of traditional park life. Parents pushing their sleeping babies, dogs pulling on leashes and kids climbing on trees. Girls giggling, nannies chatting and teenagers telling each other secrets (“You really can’t tell anyone, it’s a real deep secret.”). Squirrels nibbling, toddlers crawling through the grass and during all of this the sun was shining through the treetops. Quite kitschy the whole thing.

So people who know me also know that I am not a kitschy person. But I really enjoyed this idyllic scene. I really wanted to sit down and read my book. And so I did. Not the most exciting story ever told, but still a pretty important one for me. I got a couple hours of peace and quiet after two rather stressful and hectic weeks of moving to London, finding my way around university and meeting people from all over the world. I enjoyed all of those experiences, but it’s good to know that I have a calm place to go back to.

 

This seemed like a good way of starting this blog, which will hopefully consist all sorts of ideas, experiences and thoughts. I hope you stick around!

Julia