True Story Tuesday

It's time again for True Story Tuesdays, where amazing/outrageous/hilarious and mostly true stories abound!
Back before Bug Hunter, I worked for a delivery company. Might just be the one that invented "overnight delivery".. absolutely, positively might. And yes, that's the place where I "hit the deck" with my coworker (did I mention that I pretty much never go back and visit?). Anyway, a large part of my 13 years was spent tracking packages and trying to figure out where they were and when they'd arrive. Sometimes, someone would call in with a tracking number and there would be no scans at all. First question I asked was "Did we pick it up, or did you drop it off?" If it was dropped off, I'd find out where, and at least half the time, it was in a drop box location where several different companies had boxes next to each other. If I asked if they might have put it in the wrong box, most people would swear on their mother's grave that they put it in ours. I always found guilty pleasure in contacting them several days later when the rival company would finally bring the package to us. I'm bad, I know.
There were some truly dramatic and difficult traces, too. I remember a time when a man called in looking for a package that had been delayed (I don't remember now whether it was our fault or not). It appeared that we couldn't get the package to him that day, and he broke down; turns out that it was a rush order of medicine for his wife to prevent her from having a miscarriage. Without it, she'd most likely lose their baby. We did whatever it took to get that package to him, and I think it ultimately ended up with a manager taking it the last part of the journey and handing it over to the customer. We also dealt with various "parts" for surgery; hip replacement joints and the like, and it never ceased to amaze me at how surgery was scheduled AT 10:30 for those packages. So, IF something went wrong, there were times when the patient was ON THE TABLE, scrubbed and ready to go.
I also went through one FBI sting of a jewelry theft ring, and through another FBI takedown of someone shipping drugs. Both involved guns and were unpleasant.
But one customer stands out, to this day. It was peak season (can you guess? December, of course. I HATED Santa Claus for 13 years!). The weather was very bad in two of our primary sort locations, meaning that planes had a hard time getting in and out on time with the freight. We had no guarantees during that last week or two before Christmas; we basically just tried to get it there on the right DAY. But due to those bad weather problems, we were backed up and running 16-18 hour days trying to get to the packages and get them out. It was December 23, and tempers were flaring. Patience? Not to be found, either on the customer OR the delivery side. And then I took the trace; Christmas gift for a child; sent Priority for delivery on Dec. 23, coming from California and so stuck that we'd be lucky to dig it out by New Year's. We generally weren't offering refunds, but the customer was really unhappy, so that offer was made. But the caller was insistent that the package HAD to be there before Christmas Eve, no matter WHAT it took. "I don't care if you have to rent a Lear jet to get that *&%$*#@ package here, you DO it!!" he screamed. "I'm sorry, sir, it just will not be possible to get your package here before Christmas. I'll be happy to discuss refunds and what we can do to help with your seller. Would you mind telling me what the contents are and where they were purchased?" Silence. And then, through what I could tell were gritted teeth, he said, "We've purchased our daughter a pony. And we want the presentation to be PERFECT. So we ordered a Western movie backdrop from a studio in L.A., and if it isn't here, the whole gift will be ruined!" I had to put him on hold; really. I wasn't sure whether I'd laugh right in his ear or go off on a tirade; I just needed a minute to take a deep breath and re-focus. I finally passed him up to a manager, because I think they spent in the thousands of dollars for this "prop" to make Santa look good. And if they couldn't get it by Christmas Eve, then they didn't want it, and we'd have to figure out how to handle that with the shipper. Out of my league, totally. But in the meantime, I wish I could have taped that conversation and sent it to the man a few years later. Do you think he might have realized that he was just a little "over the top" in the gift-giving department for his little angel? Nah, he was probably too busy scoping out the latest Jag or Porsche for her 16 year old birthday party (after, of course, making sure that Justin Timberlake would be able to make an appearance at her party).
So that's my true story for the week; how about you? Anything good? For more funny, serious, and downright scary stories, head over to Once Upon a Miracle and see what Rachel and Mr. Daddy (and all of their friends!) are up to! Oh.. just one more thing; I have an IRL blog friend in Nashville who wrote a VERY funny true story post today. I'd love for her to link up.. can you pop over to her blog and give her a push for me? Her name is Pam, too, and you can find her at Life Through My Eyes. Thanks!