Losing Grip

I forgot to blog about this the other day. Fortunately, my head is much cooler now that I can already blog in straight English and not mostly in rude Castillan.

A few weeks ago, the house was caught surprised when without warning the water stopped running. At first, we were not alarmed about it. Usually, at that time of the day, there are interruptions in the water supply but they are commonly brief and would normalize after an hour or so. So, I didn't call up BACIWA (Bacolod City Water District) to complain.

It was already late in the afternoon when I realized that the water supply didn't resume and that the faucet was desert dry. I called up the complaint desk and asked about the problem. At first, the voice on the other end of the line was also quite surprised that our "area" had no water. There had been no reports about any water interruption during that day, except somewhere in Sum-ag. They promised to report it to their maintenance department.

I went out of the house and had our helper asked around if the rest of the houses were also having problems with their water supply. To my surprise, only my house and the other house behind us were having water problems. The rest of the subdivision were enjoying full water supply. I was curious so I reported it to BACIWA again and was told that they will have their maintenance crew come over to check.

Of course, it was already past 5 pm and still no water nor maintenance crew came. I called up the BACIWA office and only the security guard answered the phone. I was told that no maintenance crew would stay past 5 pm and all employees already went home. I was still hoping that the water would resume at around 7 pm but at the back of my mind I was sensing that something might be troubling our pipes. I told the rest of the people in the house to expect no water until the next day.

As predicted, there was still no water by the next morning. Since I had to go to a medical mission that morning, I left the following up of our complaint at BACIWA to my wife and my parents. In fact, my mother herself called up BACIWA at exactly 8 a.m. to log in the complaint once again. We were told that they would have the maintenance crew come over to check.

By lunch time I arrived back from the medical mission only to find out that there was still no water supply and still no maintenance crew who came over. So I called up BACIWA again, this time with a much louder and more persistent voice. I asked why no maintenance crew came yet. It was already mid-day and still no one from BACIWA came over to check our trouble. Again, the voice on the other line promised to follow up the complaint. I was also told that the maintenance crew would be sent right after lunch.

An hour after lunch, still no maintenance crew came over. So I called up BACIWA once again, this time more frustrated and pissed off. I asked where the maintenance crew was. I was told that they were coming. I said, "Daw kagina pa man to sila ginapakadto di ninyo? Tapos na panyaga pero wala pa sila gyapon. Ano gid ya bala kalayo ang BACIWA haw? Diin pa sila halin, sa planet Mars? Sa planet Jupiter?!"

I hang up the phone with a loud bang. Waited again for another hour. Still no maintenance crew came. This time I dialled the number of the maintenance office. I was now demanding for quality service. I was flabbergasted by such gross inefficiency that my patience was tested to the core. I asked the secretary when would the crew come over, "Mga 5 o clock pa, sir." Five o clock?! Sonofab---

I was literally screaming at the telephone. I was demanding to speak to their supervisor, this time to complain their inefficiency. "Kagina pa kami ginahambalan nga kadtuan kami pero wala man gyapon. Ano klase nga serbisyo inyo man?!"

The secretary gave the phone to a guy who introduced himself as a "laborer" but I asked to talk to their supervisor. I was losing my grip. It was really possible that "indi man kami gyapon makadtuan" despite the complaint we already filed. Remember that we filed the complaint more than once. The first time was the day before at around 4:30 pm and the second time was 8 am of that day. And still no maintenance crew came over. I was almost cursing.

"Sir, daw indi naman ni yah guro insakto imo, sir," said the "laborer".

"Indi insakto?! Sino ang indi insakto sa atun? Ako nga naga pangakig di or kamo nga wala pa diri ka kadto sa amon para tan-awon kung ano ang guba sa amon tubo!? Hambalan mo pa ko kung sino ang insakto sa atun?!"

Gago.

The guy was saying that they would immediately proceed to our house right there and then. But I was insisting to file another complaint: against their stupidity. He gave the phone to a guy who introduced himself as an engineer and was asking me "ano ang problema sir, kay kadtuan naman bala kamo da?"

"Engineer, kung indi pa ko ya mamersa, indi kamo di magkadto sa amon?! Ano klase nga serbisyo na? Kilanlan ko pa mangakig para magkadto kamo di?!" The engineer guy hang up the phone while I was still talking.

Gago.

They did come in full force. There was indeed trouble in our pipes from the main pipe to our house. They had to fix the broken pipe which was leaking massive amounts of water since the other day.

I could not understand why some people have the nerve to be inefficient. No wonder our country remains where it is now because we lack the motivation and desire to render efficient service. They have to be reminded that since they work in a sector which is vital to a human being's needs (e.g. water), they should be more efficient than usual. I cannot tolerate such inefficiency. Maybe because I was trained in my medical field to render quality service efficiently. If I am not efficient, my inefficiency would cost my carreer and the lives of my patients. I give this service without prejudice. I believe I demand the same.












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