Thanks to all who read my serious post on Saturday about the Cleveland kidnapping. On a lighter, but possibly related subject, customer service: I've spent several hours on the phone to my internet provider in order to receive what I thought was a simple upgrade. It's a wonder we're not ALL sliding into antisocial behavior. Then I remembered that James Thurber's essay "File and Forget" which I first read as a teenager, and was already 20 or 25 years old then. I recommend it to all. Here is a link to it in print. Keith Olberman also read this essay (he enjoyed reading Thurber on air) but I have only been able to find the first five minutes of the reading online. If anyone knows where the full reading is I'd love to hear of it.
So: are customer service problems worse now than 1949 or are we just more accustomed to instant gratification? Or is the explanation something else? Anyway, something to think about, and a good excuse to look at Thurber once again.