True Love; Covid-19 and the Skunk Attack

Harvey Mandel was fuming. He had arranged for an appliance repair company to send a service person to fix his dryer which was not working at all. He had wet clothes hanging on all kinds of doors, closets, and stairs. The dryer had quit as soon as he hit the ‘’permanent press’’ cycle. He knew that by air drying his underwear he was asking for trouble. The underwear would get stiff and uncomfortable.

The appliance guy was supposed to arrive between ten and two and it was four thirty. No call saying he would be late or rescheduling the appointment. It was upsetting, the world was getting crazier since Covid-19 started destroying society. Nobody seemed to want to take responsibility for anything.

Harvey called ‘’The Efficient & Effective Appliance Repair Company’’ and told them that they could shove his appointment up their asses. He only dealt with credible companies. The woman on the other end of the line was silent until she wasn’t. ‘’Sir, Marco was on the way and he received a call that his Mother was rushed to the hospital. She had fallen and broken her hip. Marco would have called us to let us know he couldn’t make his appointments, but when the ambulance got to the hospital she passed. He is now in mourning. I’m sorry he had to miss his appointment, but losing your parent takes precedent over a broken dryer.’’ Harvey felt terrible and apologized profusely. He was embarrassed that he had yelled at the company, and asked that his deepest condolences be sent to Marco. There was a pause and the woman at the other end of the line started to laugh. ‘’Sir, I made that story up, it was all bullshit, but when you thought something terrible had happened to Marco you were ready to forgive and forget and schedule a new appointment. Marco is really behind schedule today, he is still at a call, do you want me to tell him to go to your house or do you want to reschedule?’’

A stunned Harvey told her not to send him over and that he would think about calling to reschedule and he hung up. He had to give the woman on the phone credit for defusing the situation, but that didn’t help with his wet clothes.

Since there was no reason to wait around the house, Harvey threw on his coat and asked his trusted and loyal Beagle, Foggy if he wanted to go for a walk. The truth was asking Foggy if he wanted…