Got The Time

Got The Time                                                      3231

Wednesday, January 25, 2006-1:53 A.M.

There's an old Yiddish proverb; Man plans, God laughs.  Or to make a perfectly short line even longer (my stock in trade), Life is what happens while you're making other plans.

I can't believe that January, the month I'd been dreading, is almost in the bag.  I had big dreams about what I was going to accomplish with 2006, and I hit the ground running, but all I did was stand still.

I still have to get RalphTetta.com up and running.  So far, I've done nothing to make it happen, and getting that website was my New Year's resolution last year....how bad is that?  Also, I've come to a standstill as far as getting new clubs on board, which begs the question...if my entire schedule is full all the time, should I even be worried about adding new clubs?  I mean, I could always solicit better work, but when I started this road thing, the trick was making sure that I worked every week (can't support a family without a weekly income, I say).  So if I'm working every week, and paying my modest bills, how intent should I be on getting into new clubs?  Road work is road work, and is it really worth getting bent out of shape that I can't get (insert club here) to return my phone calls or even acknowledge that they received my DVD and promo pack?  I'm going to say "no" here, although I can't help but feel differently about it.

I've got about three other projects I want to pursue, but where's the time?  I've gotten greedy about spending time with my wife and daughter, to the detriment of my career.  Not that everything isn't going fine, but I constantly hear that clock ticking.  It's not a real clock, either, just one that I've set for myself.  I keep feeling older than I really am, like at some point I'm no longer going to be welcome on a comedy club stage because of my age...which is ridiculous, because every week I work with someone older than myself.  I need to shake it off and get into some sort of a routine.  Maybe that should be my New Year's resolution for 2006.  Set some simple goals and stick to them.  I know I post a lot of journal entries, but they're all done in the middle of the night, when there's not a lot of business going on.  Maybe I'm sleeping the wrong hours.  Ah, hell.

Nothing to report other than a couple of nice days together with the family, running errands and visiting older relatives and friends on the mend.  We did lunch over at Pam's grandmother's house, and went to go see our friend Crystal who is home convalescing after surgery.  Harmony turned out to be a little ray of sunshine in both instances...she's got bags of charisma, and she's not even speaking conversationally yet.

Yesterday I went to pay my insurance bill ($104, in case you're interested, Steve...I have no secrets) at State Farm, and the receptionist got a little lippy with me.  I don't respond well to that sort of thing.

Her:  Can I help you?

Me: (smiling)  Yes, hello!  I'm here to pay my monthly.

Her:  Do you have your bill?

Me:  (still smiling)  No, I don't.  I pay in person every month, so I usually just stop in on my day off.

Her:  (frowning)  Well, they want the bill, so you'd better start bringing it from now on.

Me:  (paying the cash)  Well, if they want the bill, then just keep it here instead of mailing it to me.  I always pay in person, so then it would be here when I come in.

Her: (getting tired of my seemless logic)  Sure, we'll just keep everyone's bill here on file for them.

Me:  (still smiling)  No, I mean just *my* bill.  I pay in person, I'm sure everyone else mails theirs in, or pays on the internet.  I have no problem asking for special treatment.

Her:  (thinking I'm joking and lightening up)  I'll run it by my supervisor and see what they say.

Me:  (still smiling)  Thank you for your help today!  I'll see you again in a month!

If your job sucks so bad that you don't realize you're making a customer angry or uncomfortable, which I was, hence the sarcasm (veiled as innocence and naivette), then you need to get another job.  And while I realize that being a receptionist in an insurance company's branch office probably doesn't live up to the glamour you'd expect, you still have to do the dance when the paying clientele come in.

I'd lodge a complaint with my agent, but who has the time?

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY