In the states we get our bills in
the mail. We write a check, put a stamp
on it and mail it or better yet we pay it online. This is not how it works in Guyana. Here, you have to go to the actual place and
pay your bill face to face. In the
missionary life it’s easy to put the necessities of your life to the side and
on this day it caught up with us.
On this specific day we ran out
of time with all of our errands and had promised to take two youths from PAL
out to lunch. However that promise got
interrupted with a phone call from the power company. They were at the house and ready to
disconnect our service. So, we hauled
tail to pay our bill and stop the disconnection. We only hurried up to wait. Never in my life, have I seen such a thing!
First, you get your bag searched
before you can even enter the building – because like a young white missionary
is going to be packing heat!
Second, you sit in a line of
chairs without knowing who is next to talk to a lady at a desk only to realize
you are in the wrong line for what you need. So you get into the right line,
thanks to the security guard who pointed us in the right direction.
Third you play musical chairs as
you get up and down as each person is seen by the customer service rep.
Finally you are seen and wait for
her to go talk to someone else to see if she accept payment because we are in a
different region and don’t have our bill with us. After ten minutes we are approved and sent to
another long line to pay our bill.
Forty-five minutes later mission
is accomplished and the lesson is learned.
Life has necessities and procrastination has consequences.
We do keep our promise to our
girls though and right on time in “Guyana Time.”