Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Sometimes, you just gotta do the right thing.

Devils'Advocate · 02-01-2007, 07:27 PM

I can think of one.

I was getting ready for a blind date that a buddy of mine had set up for me. As I was headed out the door, my landlord knocked. He said that the woman in the apartment above me was having computer problems. I didn't know the woman very well at all... I mean I had seen her in the laundry room before but we had never spoken. I told the landlord that I'd be happy to look at the computer the following evening but I was off on a date. He said that it was an emergency and she really needed someone ASAP. So I looked at my watch and figured I had 5 minutes to spare. I went up and the woman was crying uncontrollably.

What I found out was that she had just moved here from Russia. She had been dumped by her husband who had spent everything they ever had on booze. She was three months behind on the rent and was about to get an eviction notice. She had managed to land a huge russian-english translating contract, but the document needed to be in at midnight because they needed it reproduced and binded before a 9am conference. She had the document on her hard-drive and the machine wouldn't boot. I quickly summized that it was more than a 5 minute job.

I think it was more out of a "how big of a jerk would I feel like if I left this woman in this predicament?" than a "I'll be a nice guy" sentiment. I wasn't able to get the girl at home, but I called the restaurant, gave them the same description I was given and asked that they tell her that I wasn't going to make it.

I tell ya, there is nothing worse than trying to fix a computer with a 60 year old woman sitting on her bed sniffling and dabbing her eyes. I knew that her emotion had far more to do with her prediciment than the computer breakdown. That was just the proverbial straw. So while I'm working away at the computer, I'm trying to calm the woman down so I'm doing simultaneous tech-support psychiatry and doing a far better job on the former than the latter. An hour and a half later, after re-installing the whole operating system and running some diagnostic checks we were able to get her document back up.

I never did meet the girl. I did phone her to apologize but she'd have none of it. I just chalk it up to "wasn't meant to be". And since I've never seen her, meh, I just picture her as Roseanne Barr.

02-01-2007, 07:27 PM	#57
Devils'Advocate #1 Goaltender Join Date: Jul 2005 Exp:	I can think of one. I was getting ready for a blind date that a buddy of mine had set up for me. As I was headed out the door, my landlord knocked. He said that the woman in the apartment above me was having computer problems. I didn't know the woman very well at all... I mean I had seen her in the laundry room before but we had never spoken. I told the landlord that I'd be happy to look at the computer the following evening but I was off on a date. He said that it was an emergency and she really needed someone ASAP. So I looked at my watch and figured I had 5 minutes to spare. I went up and the woman was crying uncontrollably. What I found out was that she had just moved here from Russia. She had been dumped by her husband who had spent everything they ever had on booze. She was three months behind on the rent and was about to get an eviction notice. She had managed to land a huge russian-english translating contract, but the document needed to be in at midnight because they needed it reproduced and binded before a 9am conference. She had the document on her hard-drive and the machine wouldn't boot. I quickly summized that it was more than a 5 minute job. I think it was more out of a "how big of a jerk would I feel like if I left this woman in this predicament?" than a "I'll be a nice guy" sentiment. I wasn't able to get the girl at home, but I called the restaurant, gave them the same description I was given and asked that they tell her that I wasn't going to make it. I tell ya, there is nothing worse than trying to fix a computer with a 60 year old woman sitting on her bed sniffling and dabbing her eyes. I knew that her emotion had far more to do with her prediciment than the computer breakdown. That was just the proverbial straw. So while I'm working away at the computer, I'm trying to calm the woman down so I'm doing simultaneous tech-support psychiatry and doing a far better job on the former than the latter. An hour and a half later, after re-installing the whole operating system and running some diagnostic checks we were able to get her document back up. I never did meet the girl. I did phone her to apologize but she'd have none of it. I just chalk it up to "wasn't meant to be". And since I've never seen her, meh, I just picture her as Roseanne Barr.