Please Let me Pay the Phone Bill

"Please let me pay the phone bill" will probably be something that Beth will be shocked to hear me ask (I will probably be just as shocked to have the words come out of my mouth). 

Previously, when I went to pay the phone bill I had to ask, as I entered, who was last in line.  Then, I had to wait in a clump of people in order to "protect" my "place".  Now the phone company has a new system and after my last visit I actually came out of the phone company smiling, happy, and looking forward to paying my next bill. 

When I first entered, there was a machine on my left.  I looked at the menu and pushed the button corresponding to "pay bill".  The menu was in both Kazakh and Russian, which made it easy for me.  I pushed the red button next to the Kazakh and it printed a receipt telling me my number and giving me instructions in Kazakh.  I sat down in the chairs provided!!!  Then, all I had to do was wait for my number to come up on the screen, with the number of the cashier I needed to visit.  During my wait there was a security guard that was helping encourage people to use the new system.  When my number came up, I was able to walk up to a window and tell them my phone number and pay.  I had no one pushing me or asking the cashier something over my shoulder.  I also noticed that the cashier (who I have paid in the past) was much more patient with me when I forgot my landlady's name.  I'm sure it is nice for her not to have to deal with a loud group of people right outside her window making demands of her all at once. 

So, from this point on, I will no longer dread the monthly payment of the phone bill.  Instead I may even look forward to the chance to sit comfortably in a chair in the middle of my day and wait for my number to be called.  I hadn't realized how much I like order until I was telling people about my experience with such joy!