I get so pissed at things not working the way they’re supposed to. Here are two recent cases in point.
My DVD players. We have two DVD players, and I have a disc player on my computer. A few weeks ago I purchased a set of discs to learn how to play the guitar better. Since I didn’t want to disrupt whatever wife Evelyn or daughter Karlyn were doing, I opted to retreat to the bedroom where we have a TV and a DVD player. I made sure that all the cables from the player to the TV were connected correctly (out from the player and in to the TV) and that the TV was tuned to the channel for playing discs. However, all that came thru was the audio.
So I tried the DVD player in the TV room. This time both the audio and video came thru; however, the video was black and white and mostly “snow” so that I couldn’t make out what the teacher was demonstrating.
Evelyn had asked whether I had a disc player on the computer, which, in all honesty, I hadn’t thought about, but I thought it was an excellent suggestion because I could keep up the lessons while we were camping as well as at home. The idea was blown to smithereens when I discovered that I couldn’t just put the disc in the computer and have it play. I needed to download an app, create a password, and basically travel thru the first five levels of Dante’s Inferno to access the stupid disc! I decided not to pursue that course, which, in the end, meant I couldn’t pursue the guitar course either.
Why, in the name of all that’s sensible, can’t I pop a DVD in the compartment, click play, and have it show up on the screen? What diabolical mind spent (probably) hours developing an intentionally complicated process for playing a DVD? For that matter, what’s going on with those other two players that won’t talk to either TV even though they’re properly wired? I get so irritated at this kind of nonsense.
Online appointment making. Evelyn’s service dog, Kianna, needs to be bathed and groomed again, so I visited PetSmart’s website to make an appointment. When I checked availability, every single day for the next ten days carried the message: No appointments available for this day! They listed a phone number. Evelyn had told me that sometimes if you talk with the groomer, they can fit you in (we were hoping for a Tuesday appointment since seniors receive a small discount on Tuesdays).
So I called. To make an appointment, said the “menu voice,” press 2. I pressed 2, and was immediately thrust into “inner rage” mode when the voice informed me that that option was not available! What the heck was going on? What was I supposed to do? More to the point: did these people really want anybody to bring their pets in for grooming? Why would they erect so many roadblocks to setting a date and time for us to make arrangements for bringing our pets to them? Was there a technical glitch that, unbeknownst to anyone at PetSmart, displayed the “no appointments available” message on their calendar and then prevented anyone from getting thru by phone? Could it be … Satan? (á la Dana Carvey).
Not sure if Lucifer is personally involved, but it’s demonic just the same. What could be more sinister than offering people a technology that’s supposed to make life easier and more convenient and then making it so complicated that it really doesn’t work anyway?
Yeah. I get pissed.