A trip to the mail box turned horrendous. Eyeballs popped out. Another utility bill with ‘overdue’ in red when I had just paid one the previous month! Wrong billing cycle. I thought I had addressed the issue via emails. Dialed the number on the bill, repeated the ritual of choosing numbers for different options a few times before I established contact with the right person. The right person then redirected me to another right person who provided me with a different email address that was monitored as opposed to the previous email id, which was conveniently unmonitored. By this time, patience which is regarded as a virtue, ditched me and I could hear my own voice resonating, probably due to the soaring decibels. The customer service staff chose ‘ignoring the emails’ option instead of ‘rectifying their mistakes’ option as they vainly believed that the ‘so-called problem of wrong billing cycle’ would go away if they chose to be unresponsive.
This is not the first time I have encountered escapists. You would be surprised if I boldly state that I find them in all walks of life and all around me. Confronting the issue on hand seems to be far more complicated than pushing it away without attending to it, even if it means temporary relief. I am also impressed by the varied techniques adopted by escapists who cloak their cowardice using jargons such as professionalism, civilization, classy, prudence etc. Some take to heels when conflicting perspectives come their way; few others prefer to drown themselves in a book, even if it’s one that they had avoided for centuries due to its boring subject matter, when they are compelled to take a side to resolve a dispute; yet others suddenly develop a taste for music be it melodious or heavy metal rock; countable people drown their predicaments in creative expression which we call art. One or two deviants may believe that power naps can take away the stress associated with quarrels or disagreements and when they wake up the differences of opinion would have miraculously vanished in to thin air.
However, impressed by its practitioners, when I adopt these strategies to escape from embarrassing verbal escalations caused by unresolved issues I am usually courted by failures. How ironic! I guess some are more fortunate and skilled than the others. It’s either that or my failures hail from the fact that I am a realist.
A Writer's Exposé 