Definition of a hero, or in this case heros!

Webster’s Dictionary gives examples of the definition of a hero as follows: (1) a mythological or legendary figure, often of divine descent; (2) an illustrious warrior; and (3) one who shows great courage.

No matter how strong, smart and independent we believe we are, at some point in our lives, we all need the assistance of another. Being a Realtor for 28 years, I think I can speak firsthand about the importance of being there for others and offering advice, experience and if need be, “got your back” coverage in a transaction.

Yesterday, I found myself in need of assistance with this device that is called a “smart phone”, that I felt had gone “stupid” on me! I had a laundry list of reasons that I felt like this device had let me down, namely, the navigation system was not working, whilst on my latest trip to San Antonio, etc. etc. etc.

Act I: After much ado, I made my way over to the Sprint store on Westheimer & S. Shepherd, here in Houston on a Saturday afternoon – fully prepared to have to hang out for an hour+. I was determined that I was going to resolve these issues and somehow or another, get my life back. It’s insane how co-dependent we have all become on technology. When I referenced my horror experience in San Antonio, what I experienced was: no navigation system. In other words, I actually had to drive by the seat of my pants, following road signs, leading me out of the major metropolitan, back to the I10 freeway, in the direction of home, sweet home – HTown. Thankfully, I made it without making any wrong turns.

Act II: I enter the Sprint store and a young man greets me and inquires if he could assist me with anything. As I stood there trying to breath without having smoke coming out of my ears, I calmly stated to him “dude this phone of mine is hosed up”! Blah, blah, blah. Poor guy looked a bit frightened as I was holding the device in my hand at the time, waving it back and forth! He immediately directed me to go to the back of the store where one of the technicians would assist me.

Act III: Ben, the technician stares straight into my eyes and inquires, “may I help you?” I went up to the counter and began to rattle off every reason in the book about why my “smart phone” had gone “stupid” on me. He listened intently and once I stopped talking and the man could get in a word edgewise, he stated in the most matter of fact way that he could, “your problem is that you got no G”. G meaning 3G or 4G. I had no internet connection whatsoever going on. I looked at him puzzled and inquired, “what?” He asked me to hand him the device and he scrolled to the area on the phone where you turn the G on and off and showed me – the box was unchecked; I in fact had no G going on. Now in order to have your navigation system work, you need G. To have your “places” work, you need G. To update my super, duper Supra device that unlocks these lockboxes that we Realtors put on Homes – you need G.

Act IV: In comes Larry, another wonderful expert at Sprint. He hears everything that I had been going over with Ben and inquired if I would like a “widget” put on my home screen that would be an on/off switch for G. Not really sure of what he was asking, I nodded my head up and down; staring at him as he so easily navigated on my phone; wow, just like Ben had. I then went down this laundry list of other things that had been happening and one by one, these two experts knocked the problem out with so much patience…..and then it dawned on me…………it was all OE, aka operator error!!!!! Apparently, moving up from a Blackberry to a Droid takes a learning curve, training, or at the very least, one needs to read the manual that comes with the phone that one buys!

Final Act: I thanked them over and over again for being so patient; applauded them for being so smart at what they do; and then, being the person that I am – I handed each of them a business card for my real estate company, Pamela K Anders Real Estate and then the powerful greencard for the on-line residential tax evaluation service called, www.IProtestMyValue.com and told them both, “if I can help either of you in any way, just let me know.”

Pam Anders’ definition of a hero on February 18, 2012: Ben and Larry - Superstars at the Sprint Store on Westheimer & S. Shepherd in HTown (aka Houston, Texas)…