Party with a Purpose

Now that the holidays are over, all that remains are the memories of the parties and the extra pounds thanks to the delicious food that was served. At the gatherings people shared stories about humorous times in their life. Our friend, Bob, told a story that made us laugh.

Bob became very disillusioned with the phone company. He said that every bill he opened from the phone company was higher than the previous month. Each of his lengthy calls to the company ended with him being unsatisfied with their excuses. It was unusual to see Bob so agitated. He is typically an optimistic, mild-mannered man in his early 60’s. Most people would describe him as never saying anything bad about anyone—until now, and he had the phone company in his crosshairs.

One day, our doorbell rang and Bob anxiously asked if he could use our computer. He said that he needed to reply to an email. After he was on the computer for a while I ventured into the office and asked if he would like a cup of coffee. As he sipped it, I could tell that he had calmed down. I asked him if his computer had crashed. He said his computer was okay, but he didn’t have Internet access. I said that was strange because we hadn’t experienced an outage.

Then he told me the story. After his frustration with the phone company, he called then one last time and told them to cancel his phone service. They reminded him that his Internet was bundled with his phone. He said he wanted it all cancelled and didn’t want to hear from them ever again. He was so mad that he told them to write in his file that if he ever called them again in the future to ask for service,  they were to turn him down and remind him of his direct order.

Bob mistakenly thought that he could just sign up with another phone and Internet service. Much to his chagrin, he discovered that there is only one choice—the company he had cancelled! Ultimately he called his original carrier back, apologized profusely and told them they were the only choice in this neighborhood. They reconnected his service . . . for a hefty fee.

Parties are great to share stories like this and laugh with your friends. But it doesn’t have to be all fun and games. Sometimes get-togethers can even have a purpose, like the party I attended today.

Today’s gift was a donation to the host’s charity-of-choice at our quarterly birthday luncheon. Her favorite nonprofit is the local humane society. The 50 women who attended had fun with a purpose. Is that what it means to be a cheerful giver?

In Giving,

Robin