Friday, March 31, 2006
Page 15
AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)
Mom Finds a Voice — on Paper
By J’AMY PACHECO
“Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Boy, am I on my way to one heckuva memorial.
I’m not really a big complainer. Officially, anyway. When something annoys me, I usually contain my griping within my circle of family and friends.
That started to change last summer, when I attended a convention and received horrendous service at a Las Vegas hotel. I came home and poured out my feelings in a three-page letter that contained words like, “abysmal,” “miserable” and “distressing.” My best line was this: “It was the most miserable hotel stay we’ve experienced since a national general strike was called while were vacationing in the Dominican Republic and armed soldiers took over our hotel.”
It was sad, but true. However, after I’d written the wonderful letter, I didn’t send it. I just couldn’t bring myself to complain, even though I had a very good point to make. But writing it made me feel better.
Late last year, though, I took things a step further when my daughter begged to attend a concert at a major amphitheater. Although the concert was being heavily promoted on the child-oriented television station she watches, there were no tickets to be had from the venue.
When I realized a big part of the problem was the fact that ticket brokers had snapped up many of the tickets and were hawking them at huge markups, I got mad in the way only a mommy can.
I fired off a letter to the amphitheater, and for good measure, sent a copy to the family-oriented corporation that sponsors the groups that were performing. My point was that the way the concert industry handled ticket sales was “just wrong.”
To my utter amazement, the amphitheater managed to scrape up a pair of tickets for me to buy at the regular, very reasonable box office price. The tickets turned out to be for what had to be the best seats in the house — front row center.
As if that weren’t enough, a mere mortal from the big corporation sent a package that arrived on Christmas Eve, containing several DVDs, and an offer of even more tickets.
My heart was warmed, my faith in humanity restored, and my thank-you letters were mailed in a timely manner.
A few weeks later, I had a very frustrating experience trying to order birthday gifts for my daughter from the Web site of a major department store. On item after item, I’d go through size and color selections, only to be told during the final step in the ordering process that the item was not available.
Incensed that my online shopping was taking so much work and paying off not at all, and inspired by my recent success, I looked up the address for the store’s corporate office, and wrote a letter documenting my experience.
I expected a “we’re sorry for the inconvenience” note, but the store instead sent me a gift certificate. I thought that was kind of amazing.
I recently bought a cute little doll for my daughter. When I undid the twisty ties to release it from its box, huge chunks of its hair fell out, including a whole braided ponytail.
I suggested we return it to the store, but my daughter declined. “I’m afraid we got her hopes up,” she said, explaining that it would be unkind to remove the doll from her new home.
I wrote to the manufacturer, and taped the chunks of hair onto the letter. They sent a replacement doll — a twin, but with her hair intact. I was inspired.
A few days ago, I received a notice from a children’s book club to which we subscribe. I keep trying order books from them, and they keep telling me the books I select from their catalog are no longer available. This card was the latest in an ongoing saga, and it pushed me over the edge. My daughter asked if I was going to write a letter, and I said I was.
“Cool! More free stuff!” she yelled. I’m not sure that’s the message I want her to get, but that’s pretty much the way it’s been going.
Now, I’ve been asked to speak at the same conference this summer. It’s going to be held in the same hotel, and I can’t decide if I should change the dates on my original letter and actually send it. I’m worried that may be going a bit too far.
On the other hand, I’ve got my memorial to consider…
Copyright 2006, Metropolitan News Company