My Poppy - Chapter 2

A few years back, Poppy was experiencing repeated technological failures with his Bell Express Vu unit. Being the nice guy that he is, he would call his children for help in a self-determined rotating pattern. One week it would be Dad's turn, then Auntie Anne's, Aunt Mary followed next, and Uncle Peter would round things out for Poppy's Charlottetown-based offsrping. Week after week, the darned thing would "break" (the term "break" in this story refers to batteries being put in the remote backwards, accidentally turning off the satellite receiver, or the TV power being off).

So on one particular occasion, the stubborn buggar decided to take matters into his own hands. He sat down to watch Compass one night, but ALAS! No Boomer! The friggin' thing wouldn't work. So he went out to the garage, and found the original receiver box that the Bell installer, whom we will call Keir Peters (a made-up name, but a good Island name nonetheless), had left at his house eight years previous when the installation took place. Inside the box was the work order form that had been signed by the above-mentioned installer. So resourceful ole Brighton decided to get out the PEI phone book, and track down a NEW person to give him technical support.

Now one thing that is important to know about Poppy, and about all Islanders really, is that Poppy never forgets a name. All of the people that he has met are placed in his memory bank based on last names and where people are from. Therefore, Poppy remembered that Keir Peters was from Rustico. He then opened the phonebook and flipped to the listings for Rustico. AHA! Right there, in the "R's", was his man. And wouldn't you know it, he proceeded to call Keir Peters' house. A lovely woman answered, and informed him that Keir was not in. He was actually at work, his new place of employment since leaving Bell, the local Home Hardware.

Now, any other man would surely give up at this point. But not my Poppy. I mean who in their right mind would call a man at his new job and ask him about a Bell Express Vu installation that he had done eight years previously? My Poppy would, that's who. He next found the listing for the Rustico Home Hardware and called the store. Another friendly lady picked up and informed Poppy that yes indeed, Keir Peters was working. Would Poppy mind holding a moment? Not at all, my dear. Take your time.

So Keir gets on the phone, and I imagine the conversation that unfolded went a little something like this:

Keir: "Good evening, Home Hardware. This is Keir speaking."

Poppy: "Good evening sir. My name is Brighton MacDougald, and eight years ago you installed this here satellite thingy. Well the darned thing's broken, and I can't for the life of me figure out what's wrong with it."

Keir: (a little stunned) "Umm...sure sir. Have you tried....."

...and this went on for 20 minutes.

But wouldn't you know it. In true Island hospitality-style, Keir Peters stayed on the phone with my Poppy, troubleshooted some different things, and finally got to the root of all of Poppy's issues.....the batteries in his remote were dead.