Have you ever felt like a task you were trying to complete was unnecessarily difficult? Things that seem like they should be easy to do turn into events requiring superhuman strength or a master’s degree in theoretical physics. If only everything in life were as easy as a pair of slip-on shoe covers.
Perhaps a little context is required here. GC Tech is a Salt Lake City company that sells high-tech waterproof shoe covers. They have two styles: slip-on and zip-up. The former style easily slips on over your shoes with very little effort. You can have them on in seconds. They slip off just as easily.
Slip-on shoe covers are about as easy as life gets. It’s too bad other things aren’t that easy. For example, have you ever tried open a new bottle of mouthwash sealed with a piece of plastic? It may look like thick cellophane, but it is military grade hardware.
Just Twist the Cap
The instructions on the mouthwash bottle suggest opening the seal is as easy as twisting the cap. However, personal experience suggests that whoever wrote the instructions never used mouthwash. Either that or they have never had to open the bottle from the company for which those instructions were written.
Even the cap itself is problematic. It has two little markings on the side, designating where you’re supposed to place your finger and thumb in order to squeeze while you simultaneously twist it off. Who among us is that coordinated? When you are twenty and the world is your oyster, fine. But you’re probably not using mouthwash anyway. When you are fifty-five and starting to fall apart, enjoying a clean mouth with minty fresh breath becomes a chore because you cannot get the bottle open.
Contacting Tech Support
In the digital age, opening a bottle of mouthwash is child’s play compared to getting usable assistance from tech support. Call any company’s support department and you are in for a real treat. Help desk personnel are furnished with a script they are instructed to follow regardless of your problem. You are left answering a bunch of meaningless questions that have nothing to do with your issue.
Making matters worse is the amount of time you sit on hold. Your kids could be grown and gone before someone answers on the other end. And then you have to put in eight or nine hours to get real answers to your questions. If the sun, moon, and stars are all properly aligned, one phone call is all it will take. Heaven help you if you have to call back two or three times.
Anything Related to the DMV
Is it possible for anything to be more complicated than dealing with the DMV? Perhaps the IRS and your state taxing authority could make life more difficult, but the DMV certainly gives them a run for their money. Trying to renew a driver’s license or register a vehicle can cause even the most delightfully perky person to wear a scowl.
Why the DMV has so many problems isn’t quite clear. Maybe there are little trolls running around the back room looking for inventive ways to cause trouble. Perhaps the guy who makes DMV computers gets his jollies by building bugs into the system. Or maybe the state really doesn’t want us to drive. They are only placating us because state law offers no other choice.
It is too bad all of life is not as easy as slip-on shoe covers. A lot of us would smile a lot more if it were.
