I have a 30 year credit history of on-time payments. Except for a serious glitch that was mistake (a $179.00 medical bill that got listed as going to collection even though it had been paid, that I wrote about here http://www.dailykos.com/...everything was ALWAYS paid on time. Now, suffering from a convergence of no work, medical and dental problems, I am forced into the humiliating position of economic triage, paying only my mortgage and whatever else I can pay .
The calls from the credit card companies began almost immediately--Target VISA just five days after my payment was late with the threat that it would go to collection. Since that initial conversation with Target VISA when I explained that, ‘no, I can’t give you a payment over the phone, that when I have money I will pay on-line, Target Visa has called four times a day, and every two hours on Sunday. Yes, I'll admit it. I hide behind Caller ID.
This morning Capital One called. They hadn't called before so, I answered because I wanted to tell them that I couldn't pay. The polite young man with the melodious Indian or Pakistani accent asked me when I could pay my past due balance. I hate Capital One and wrote here about how they took billions in bail-out money and raised my interest rate even though I had never been late. I wanted to yell, to scream, but somehow, I managed to simply say, “I can’t.”
“You can’t pay?” he asked.
And then I broke down. I don’t know why, it was as if the humiliation the frustration suddenly overwhelmed my ability to remain unemotional or even get angry at a call center employee. I started crying. I said I had no work. I said that I had huge medical and dental bills. Then, the young man on the other end of the line, a half a world away, quietly said, “I am so sorry. I will pray for you. I will pray that you find work.”
I was stunned, too stunned to speak for a moment. There was sincerity in his voice. Perhaps because I didn’t say anything, perhaps because he is accustomed to the anger and cynicism of Americans he added, “I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”
I cried harder and said, “Thank you. Thank you for that compassionate response. I didn’t ask for these things to happen. I’ve always paid my bills on time.”
And then in that beautiful melodic voice he said, “Yes, I see you are a very good, long-term customer. You have always paid on time. There is not much I can do but I can put a hold on your account so that you receive no calls. Perhaps that will help. We aren’t supposed to do this but you have been a good customer. I’m sorry it will be only for 14 days but at least for that time you will receive no calls from us.”
I thanked him and asked his name. He gave the generic Joe Smith name they are assigned so American customers will feel more comfortable. I said, “No. Your real name. What is your real name?”
There was a pause, probably while he contemplated the ramifications, before he replied, “Mohammed…” and then a long last name that I couldn’t even reproduce phonetically to spell.
“Thank you Mohammed. Thank you so much for your kindness.”
He thanked me for being a Capital One customer and then repeated that he would pray that my situation would change.
What a difference one kind soul can make. What a difference when compassion trumps the strictly business interaction. Perhaps Mohammed was able to say what he said because the call was not “being monitored for quality and training purposes.” Or maybe, he has heard so many sad stories from so many other Americans struggling that he simply surrendered to his higher self.
For the record, the Capital One account in arrears is the one I use to pay my medical insurance premium and other medical expenses. Every month Capital One takes out $357.00 a month. Maybe Mohammed saw that. Maybe he saw that the other big charges were part—only part—of a co-pay for surgery. Maybe he saw pharmacy charges. No tropical vacations. No luxury purchases—except for a few iTunes purchases usually less than $10.
It meant so much to me that another human being whose job it is to be harsh, judgmental and to recover money owed instead said he would pray for me to find work. Yes, there are the cynics that will say that he is taking a job from an American. However, the bottom line is everyone in every country needs the dignity of work. What mattered to me was his kindness.
UPDATE
Maybe Mohammed's prayers and those of the kind folks here on Kos moved the energies or something. Not to go into too much detail, but, since I didn't having any paying work I've been helping out a woman launch an environmentally beneficial technology.--Not an easy thing to do in this economy-- Last night I got a call that some people with money have taken an interest and most likely will put some money into this venture. So maybe the tide is turning.
Also interesting is that after I posted this diary and some of the comments started rolling in, I got a call from Target Visa, the most egregious of the bill harassers. In contrast to Mohammed this young, obviously American phone jockey was snide and sarcastic. Emboldened by the encouragement I received from some of the replies here on Kos, I complained it was outrageous that calls came every 2 hours on Sunday. He replied, "Legally, we can call up to 8 times a day. I can see from our records that we didn't exceed that so we didn't do anything wrong." I said, "maybe it was legal but that doesn't make it right or ethical and calling me repeatedly is not going to somehow change my financial situation so I can pay." I also told him that someday I was going to get back on my feet financially and that when I did, Target Visa would be the last bill I'd pay.