Is it right to have expectations?

Is it? Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but when I pay for a service, I expect that service to be provided without a hitch. When I was a child, people took pride in doing their jobs well. The milkman came every day around the same time, so did the breadman. (Yes, they delivered to your door) Our milkman at the time would brave a blizzard to bring milk to our house even if we were the only ones he got to. He knew my mother had small children (there were 7 of us), and when the twins (my baby sisters) were infants, that milkman never missed our house in spite of below zero weather and 10 inches of snow...and he was happy to do it! I miss service with a smile.

Oh, there are some places you go today, where they practically molest you as soon as you enter the door. "Good Morning" or "welcome" is the usual greeting...I could do without being accosted that way--especially if it's early in the morning. If I make a run to the store early in the morning, you can bet I threw on a bulky sweater to hide the fact that I didn't put my bra on, and I'm usually wearing my slippers. The old adage "Don't speak unless spoken to" would apply there.

What I'm talking about is services where they act like they're doing you a favor instead of supplying a service you paid for. Take for instance, the newspaper. Now, I just moved here April 1st, and about two weeks after we got here, I ordered and paid for home delivery of the local newspaper. It normally gets delivered about 4 AM, so when I get up, it's already out there. Unless it rains.

Every time it has rained, the paper is a no-show. At first, I let it go--figuring the carrier got them all wet, or something like that. But seeing as how we have had quite a few rainy days, I started to call and request my morning paper. You know us old folks are creatures of habit, which are ingrained in us from many years of doing the same thing at the same time every day.

This morning, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and no newspaper in the box. So I call the circulation dept. and complain. The person on the other end of the phone acts like I just woke her up, and she's quite annoyed that she has to answer the phone, apparently. She promises to have a paper sent out to my home, and I'm still waiting.

It's not that I'm a big news freak, either...but I do enjoy reading the headlines, the comics and Dear Abby with my morning coffee. I get most of my news online anyway. But somehow the coffee is not as good without the morning paper laid out on the table.

The carrier knows that the Tribune is the only newspaper published for this area, so I can't call and threaten to subscribe to a competitor. You either take what they got, or go without. I miss the old days, when you could set your watch on things like delivery of the day's milk, or the morning paper. Now it seems that the only thing I can set my watch to is my early morning trip to the bathroom. At 6:40 every day I climb out of my warm bed to visit the bathroom, much to my dismay at having been awakened in the first place. But at least no one is waiting for me to greet me with a smile there!