On Saturday morning I awoke to find that my new Nokia phone was not working. When something breaks in Spain, it is a huge hassle to get it fixed. Just to inquire about getting it fixed, I had to take part of the morning off in Madrid on Monday to go to the MoviStar (cell phone operator) store (it doesn’t open until 10:00am). When I finally spoke to the MoviStar agent, he told me that my warranty was only valid for 10 days at the store, but that I could go to the Nokia customer representative a few blocks away where my warranty would be valid for two years.
When the afternoon came around, I left work early at 7:00pm to be able to arrive by 8:00pm at the Nokia shop before it closed. When I arrived, there was another MoviStar agent who told me that the Nokia reps only work from 11:00am-2:00pm and then from 4:00pm-7:00pm. I was furious to say the least, and asked whether only people without jobs qualified for Nokia’s customer services.
Then I remember that this was all part of a much bigger problem: a vicious cycle of a Mama’s Boy society that makes getting anything done almost impossible. Strangely enough, what we call a Mama’s Boy in English, in Spain they call a Papa’s Boy (because he lives off daddy’s salary, even if his body is running on mama’s cooking). Allow me to explain: Continue reading →
Grave Error 