I recently moved my office to a new suite in the same building. In doing so, the IT Department had to take care of moving and setting up my computer and phone in my new office. For the last few weeks, I have watched as the message signal on my phone blinks at me. When I first noticed it, I picked up the handset and tried to dial in to retrieve my message. Apparently, in the move, my password was lost. The one I used in my old office no longer works in the new location. I was curious about this, but only for a minute or two. This was a few weeks ago. My phone is still blinking at me. Occasionally, I wonder what the message on my phone might be. It could be important. But then I figure if it is really important, the person would have tried again to reach me with the important news.

Blink

Blink

I could call up the IT Department’s Help Desk, and tell them that my phone won’t accept my password anymore. They would help me. It’s why they call it the “Help Desk”. It’s for people like me who can’t figure out why the light on their phone is blinking or why all the icons on their desktop just disappeared. Stuff like that. They are always patient and nice and they never, ever ask me, “What did you do to it?” Although I am sure they want to. They always do ask me for information I do not have, but somehow I feel like I should have. But still, they are kind. I do notice, though, that only a few seconds into our conversations, they usually begin speaking to me like a kindergarten teacher might speak to one of her students. They begin using simple words and short sentences.

Blink

Blink

I know there are people who wouldn’t have been able to allow this to go on this long. I love those people. I am married to one. I don’t think he would care so much about the message waiting as he would just want things to be in order, and not blinking. If I care at all it isn’t because of the blinking as much as I wonder a bit about the message. Perhaps I won something. Although I didn’ t enter any contests. I learned my lesson about that decades ago when I registered to win a Rainbow vacuum cleaner only to find the only thing I won was a vacuum cleaner salesman at my door and a three hour demonstration of a vacuum I could not hope to pay for.

Blink

Blink

I realize the grownup thing to do in this situation is to call for help, and to resolve the situation. Sometimes we just decide we aren’t going to do the thing that we know we should do. I mean it’s not as if I don’t know how to fix my situation. But there is a part of me that is enjoying the mystery. It’s like when you get to the end of a good book and you are almost mad at yourself for reading to the end. Now it’s over and done and you have to go find another way to amuse yourself. As long as my phone is blinking, I can wonder about the message. If I get a new password and listen to the message, it’s done.

Blink

Blink

But perhaps it’s time. I should just call the Help Desk and get it done. I’ll suffer through the questions I don’t have the answers to until I can get a new password and listen to my message. It will most likely be a non-event, and my adventure will be over with no real climax. With any luck, the message will not be that I have been let go, and I am just finding out a month later. That would be a bummer. The blinking light is a loose end. As grownups, we are supposed to tie those up. Maybe you have a loose end or two you need to deal with. I’ll go deal with mine, maybe today is the day you deal with yours, too. You know what you need to do…

Blink

Blink