Utilize This

Dear Mexico,

I've been living here for almost two years and while I've come to appreciate the vast differences between you and my native country, there is one area that I need to discuss with you.

The utilities.

Back home, we received monthly bills for gas, electricity, phone/internet, and cable. I would slip a check into the provided envelope and mail them back to you. Some people paid them online (something I was about to switch to when we moved) and others have the amount due automatically withdrawn from their checking account.

You do things a little differently: you make people pay their gas, water, and electric bills in person. In a country where people the postal system is a joke, I can understand not wanting to trust your revenue to the men in pink and green, plus a lot of people cannot afford stamps. I dutifully go to TelMex and CFE when my bills are due and wait in line with everyone else.

But then there's the satellite service, which doesn't send a bill at all. We pay over the telephone, but it doesn't always take effect and, more times than not, we lose service for a day or so. With the Oscars approaching around the time the bill is due, I'm very nervous something will go wrong. (This same concern happened last month with the Superbowl.) I know it seems logical to just pay the bill early, but I don't even know the exact date it's due.

I mentioned the horrid postal service earlier, and this is another thorn in my side. You see, the developers for our condo moved out last fall but they never set up mailboxes for the people who live here. While they were still here, they received our mail and would flag us down if we had anything. Now the mailman sticks letters and bills between the metal bars and the glass on the vacant office's door. If we're lucky we'll see if something arrived for us (I did get my grandmother's Christmas card) but we went four months without ever receiving a phone bill. Again, I know when it's due, so I just bring the old bill to TelMex and make sure I have enough cash to cover what I think will be the amount due. (It varies because they charge for every phone call.)

Even though we've paid our telephone bill on time every month, I often find myself without service, sometimes for an entire day or two. My internet (almost) always works, but the phone line will go staticky and the phone will be useless. I'd understand if the internet also didn't work, since they're on the same line, but it's just the phone. This has been going on for over a year and is just another thing I've come to expect.

Finally, the electric company. Every two months someone comes and places a sheet of paper (the bill) on the meters on the far side of the parking lot. For several months I thought the bill was due every three months, and I cannot seem to keep it in my head to watch for the bill more frequently. Two days ago our power went out (as it does quite often - just another charming aspect of Mexico) but when we heard the radios in the neighborhood start back up and our power didn't return, we knew something was going on. My husband stopped at the electric company on his way to work and discovered our bill was less than a week overdue. One week, and they cut the power off. If we could just get a bill like I'm used to, this wouldn't be a problem.

I also have issues with the water constantly running out, but I'll save that for another time.

Irrationally yours,
Melanie


ETA: I also have issues about this, but that's a lot more than I can fit into this post.