Well, well.
I had a pleasant surprise on Tuesday morning, Jan. 15.
While I was surfing the internet--you know, looking for the latest nature documentaries or Bible quotes on sites that a single man who is approaching 50 normally visits in the privacy of his locked room--I received this text message.
I didn’t recognize the number, but I opened it, anyway.
It was from Maridel Manalang, area head of Visayas PLDT stores, asking if she could call me.
Hmm. I initially wondered why. The name didn’t ring a bell. Why would she want to talk to me?
Then I remembered my column that came out that day. It was about my agonizing two-hour wait at the PLDT office on Osmeña Blvd. last Monday morning trying to purchase load for my home WiFi.
The column actually went through several drafts.
I was glad the first one didn’t come out. It was so scathing, so dripping with venom, and so inappropriate for Sinulog week, which was why I had to tone it down several notches. After all, my predicament then wasn’t much of a problem as an inconvenience.
So I figured, that must be it. Why she wanted to talk to me, that is.
I texted her back to say she could. And she did. In less than a minute.
I was expecting a confrontation. Because, let’s admit it, that’s what single men who are approaching 50 who like to yell at noisy teenagers expect when they get a text or a call from someone they don’t know.
But Maridel had a very sweet phone voice.
Which was disarming. I had put up my shield at maximum only to realize right there and then, that there was no need for it. So I immediately lowered it. My shield, that is.
I forgot what came first. Her apology for what I went through last Monday morning or her gratitude for pointing out the lapses in their office on Osmeña Blvd. Either way, I was embarrassed.
I didn’t write about my experience because I wanted PLDT’s attention. Or because I wanted special treatment. Oh no. God forbid... although, if there was a long line, and I was in a hurry, or if I just didn’t want to wait and I had a chance to, you know, then maybe, I didn’t say I would, just maybe I’d think about it.
She went on to explain that they were undermanned.
That, on that particular day, they had a deadline to beat. Or something like that. Actually, I realized right then that I was having a Jerry Maguire moment. Except I was Renee Zellweger’s Dorothy and she was Tom Cruise’s Jerry.
I felt like telling ‘Del—you see, we’re that close now—you had me at hello. Then she told me I was her husband’s favorite writer.
Well, a pleasant surprise indeed. Give my regards to the children.
pjbriones@sunstar.com.ph