Charlie Cons will be eighty-eight years old on May 1. If there is anything wrong with Charlie it is age related but his mind is clear as a bell. He can’t hear and most of the time he refuses to use hearing aids. I offered to go with him to Lake Worth Utilities as he went down there last month to see about a big electric bill and the same thing happened this month. He got no satisfaction.
You see, Charlie owns his apartment and has since 1992. He married Irma several years ago who owns her unit out here so consequently he does not stay in his own unit anymore other than to visit to clean it and keep it up. He wants to keep it. It is part of him with his own things. He runs his thermostat at 78, and the a/c unit is only one year old . He keeps his hot water heater and refrigerator on. These are the only electrical appliances on all the time.
I run the exact same appliances and my bill is less than half what his has been over the last two months ($63 versus $137). We own the exact same number of square feet. The difference is that he is on the first floor and I am on the second floor and I keep my thermostat at 75^. It is much more costly to a/c a top floor unit. Charlie went into LW Utilities last month and they took his complaint and sent out a meter reader on February 20. The report came back that the meter was okay.
Today I accompanied him to Lake Worth Utilities and we got to speak to Suzie. She would not give us her last name although I asked for it twice. She told me that was all I needed to know. She proceeded to talk to Charlie like he was an imbecile telling him to raise his thermostat up and to turn off his hot water heater while not in use. I asked her not to talk down to him and then the sparks flew. She told me that she was a “professional.” I explained to her that I was there to assist him as he could not hear. She told me that he could hear very well. She told Charlie that someone would, once again, be out to check out his meter.At the side of her desk is a flier for all to see that reads: This is God. I will be handling all your problems today. I will not need your help. So have a nice day.
On the way out we ran into our meter reader and I explained his problem. She told us that reading the meter again is not going to solve it. She said, “Let me handle this,” and got a supervisor, Tiffany. Now, instead of someone reading the meter again, they will replace that meter and inspect the one that might very well be faulty.
Suzie failed to take a Senior Citizen seriously. She did not like my being there to assist him. Without intervention, Charlie would continue to have high electric bills. Suzie will still be sitting there believing that her advice is Godlike.
