Put Off By Potomac Edison

tyunglebower ♦ December 10, 2015 ♦ Leave a comment

I had originally planned to dedicate today’s post to spreading the word about one of my stories that appeared in a local short story anthology. But within the hour I was so put off by something, that the only hope I have in calming down about it is to “talk” about it, and spread the word to see if at least one or two other people in the world would have been as upset by what happened as I am.

Below is word for word what I just wrote to the local power company, Potomac Edison, about how disgusted I was by one of their employees, and it’s got nothing to do with their utility service. Reprinting it here says it all, so I’ll leave it at that, but I hope somebody somewhere feels at least PR indigestion over it.

I am writing to you not as a customer in need of your service, but as a citizen disgusted by the actions and attitudes of one of your employees.

At approximately 2:15 PM on December 10, 2015, I was walking along “B” Street in Brunswick, Maryland, where one of your trucks and employees was dispatched. The vehicle was parked, engine off, on the side of the road.

As I approached, someone’s pet cat, (judging by the collar on same) walked under the vehicle, and promptly jumped up into the machinery of same, out of site.

Not wanting the animal to go unnoticed by the driver, I crossed the street, and inquired as to who was driving the Potomac Edison truck. Several people pointed to the employee. I informed him of the cat, advising him he may want to pat the hood on his truck a few times, to make sure the cat was safely out of the way before starting the engine and driving off.

Your employee’s response is the reason for this correspondence.

“Guess it’s a dead cat, then,” he said, without even looking away from the work he was doing.

So put off and disgusted by this was I, that I left the area, intent on making this known to you.

I was not about to confront a man much bigger and stronger than myself, nor was I going to go banging on someone else’s vehicle to keep the cat safe. So I feel all  I could do was let you know about this incident, and to express my disgust over one of your employees. (Whose name I do not have.)

As a business, you are obviously designed to make money. It’s not part of your mission to look out after animal welfare. But when an animal just happens to cross the path of one of your employees, and said employee is informed by someone from the community of the issue, is it truly detrimental to your bottom line to have someone be extra certain someone’s pet is not ripped to shreds by one of your vehicles? Is the 60 seconds of time it would require going to derail the business concerns of Potomac Edison to such a great degree?

If this is the attitude of your average employee, I’m ashamed that the local community is forced to receive its power from the likes of your company.

I have only my word to prove any of this, and your own discernment. You’ll have to decide not only if I’m telling the truth about this, but if it is something you even want to spend any time contemplating. I can do no more. I only hope the animal in question lost interest in your vehicle in enough time to escape becoming “a dead cat, then.”