How Do We Cure STUPID?

by Peggy Sue Skipper

     We all do stupid stuff—well at least I’ve never met anyone that hasn’t done the occasional stupid thing or two. So, I got to thinking the other day about whether or not there is a cure for stupid. Now we have a great cure for ignorance and it is called education. But ignorance is the state of not knowing something and as I heard so many times on Oprah before she vacated her afternoon slot of 25 years, “When you know better you do better.” And that is how we cure ignorance.

     But stupid is another matter altogether and while I certainly try to stay out of judgment as much as possible the fact is some things are just…STUPID. I define stupid as knowing better and not doing better. Now, to my way of thinking there is BIG STUPID and there is LITTLE STUPID.

     For instance, littering—you can hardly go anywhere these days and not see a trash receptacle but people still throw trash in the street and out of their cars. Having lived on many a corner lot in my life I can tell you that for some reason people think a corner is a good place to clean out their cars. I just don’t get that at all—who do they think will pick it up? Where is it supposed to go? And on top of that I’m betting these same people would be absolutely livid if someone dumped trash in their yard or on their car. Stupid.

     And let me tell you a story about STUPID that happened in my life recently. My 83-year-old mother decided to get an iPhone. Good for her right? She has gone completely deaf so only uses texting (pretty good for 83 right?). She found out about a program called Dragon Dictation that has an “app” for the iPhone that allows a person to talk into the phone and what they say is translated to text. This comes in very handy even when I am communicating with her but it is really good for when she goes to the doctor or anywhere people need to speak with her. Great app and she is enjoying it.

     I took her to the AT&T store because at that time they had a $50.00 iPhone available and she wanted to combine her bills because she already had an AT&T land line and DSL connection (yes, she is also a demon on email). The first question I asked the salesperson was about combining the bills and I was told that was not a problem but I would have to get the cell account set up and then call an 800 number to get the bills combined. OK, no problem.

     So, we proceed to set up the account and then we are told that due to her credit report she would have to pay a $500.00 deposit which would be refunded in a year. Whoa. Now, let me explain that my mother does not have bad credit—she just doesn’t have any credit. She owns her home and car outright and pays any credit card charges off monthly. She has never paid a bill late in her life and she has been a customer of AT&T (or SWBell) since 1946. She was livid and if she hadn’t wanted—needed really—that Dragon Dictation app she would have left without that iPhone.

     Finally, she went ahead and paid the deposit and I thought it would be a simple matter to get the whole thing cleared up after the fact. I had no idea what kind of STUPID I was in for here. No one will budge on that deposit. I have spoken with the 800 number a couple of times and then she wrote a letter explaining the situation. She got a form letter back saying there was nothing they could do and it would have to be taken up with the store where the phone was purchased. Of course, the store says it has to be handled by the 800 people. 

     But here is the real kicker—her modem went blinky and I took it back to that same AT&T store to get a replacement. When they looked up her account they told me that they could offer a great deal to her if she would add her TV connection and go with their U-verse program. So, I explained the situation about the deposit on the cell phone and told the guy that she might consider the deal if the deposit was refunded to her. After all, the additional monthly charges they were pressing her to take on exceeded the monthly cell charges they required a deposit to make sure she paid!

     I also told him that our very first question when she purchased the cell phone was about getting one bill for all the services and now the 800 number tells us that is not possible because the cell phone is under deposit and the other bill isn’t. And just whose fault is that? STUPID.

     I was supposed to hear from the area manager by today but that call hasn’t happened and I am betting it won’t. I am not even sure if I would classify this particular series of events as BIG or LITTLE but it is certainly STUPID.

     I realize that large corporations have to have rules or they couldn’t function smoothly. I also understand that cell phones are difficult to track down once they leave the store and there have to be some safe guards in place. I get all that. What I don’t get is why a stellar payment history of an existing and long term customer doesn’t factor into the equation. 

     It’s kind of like that littering thing—everyone seems to think someone else will clean up the mess and this one just keeps getting bigger. When someone lives 83 years and ends up owing nothing to anyone, minds her own business and is just a good person they shouldn’t be treated this way. Someone at AT&T should be able to take her history with them into consideration and do better by this long term customer but so far that hasn’t happened. 

     It’s just STUPID.

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