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THE CAREGIVER & THE CABLE GUY

August 31, 2022

THE CAREGIVER IS ALSO THE CABLE GUY

“The Television is Broken and The Remote Doesn’t Work”

I can’t tell you how often I have heard those two phrases since I have been my Mom’s Caregiver. OMG!

When I first became her Caregiver, my Mother wanted to call the Cable Company constantly insisting that they come out to service the TV which she had determined was not working properly. Most people are aware that no matter what is going on, the Cable Company’s first line of defense is to turn the cable off and then back on again. In most cases that solves the problem. Let me explain when that simple solution does not work…

Turning the Cable off and on again will not work, if the Cable box has become unplugged, if the TV is unplugged or for some odd reason is no longer connected to the cable box. And it certainly will not work if the TV is programmed for operation by remote control and the remote has been disabled. And all of these things happen with my Mom’s television regularly; however, she is very quick to deny that she had anything to do with any of the above. Seriously? It must be the Elves.

You remember the Elves that show up in Fairy Tales to perform their magic on ordinary things. Maybe you recall the Brothers Grimm tale of “The Elves and the Shoemaker.” The Elves came along at night to make the shoes for the Shoemaker who was unable to make them himself during the day. And every morning new shoes appeared–magically and mysteriously. Cable Elves whose sole purpose is to create television mayhem–that’s it!

I can fix any of the above occurrences with the television because I have encountered them all. And I’m sure like a lot of people, I have an aversion to calling the Cable Company. I have zero interest or time to remain on the phone with them for over an hour as we “troubleshoot” the problem together. And I certainly do not want to make an appointment 7-10 days from now for a technician to appear in person and then wait all day on pins & needles for him to show up. Therefore, I have learned to handle the typical cable problems that my Mother causes.

Now about the Remote Control.

My Mother’s remote never seems to work properly—at least not for her!!! No matter how often I explain that the button marked “Exit” will take her out of almost any situation she has gotten into, she refuses to use that button. And although clearly marked, the Volume/Channel ‘Up and Down’ buttons also don’t work properly for her to perform those duties as indicated.

“Can you please help me with my TV?”

Those words generally indicate that she has pushed a series of buttons on the remote which do not lead to the desired television command. Although when I ask, “Which button did you push?” I never receive a true answer.

She usually replies, “I didn’t touch anything.”

To which I respond, “I did not say that you did anything wrong,” although clearly that is the case.

“But it would be easier for me to fix the problem if I knew which buttons you pushed. Or at least what you were trying to do when you pushed them.”

“The TV just went to that screen.”

“Really, all by itself?” This is the point when I generally become annoyed.

I truly don’t understand why the Cable Company does not invent a full-proof remote for the Elderly. Surely, they must get tired of the relentless phone calls and unnecessary house calls but maybe not. Perhaps there is a profit in providing unnecessary services to older Adults.

The only thing worse than helping my Mom with her TV and Remote is assisting my Senior Aunt with these things over the phone!

“The Television is Broken and the Remote Doesn’t work.” Becoming the Cable Guy is also one of the Caregiver’s duties.

The other day after “fixing” my Mom’s unbroken TV, I looked in the Mirror to see the Cable Guy looking back at me with a look on his face that totally described how I felt at that moment.