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Carol Jago onWriting for Life
A few months ago my best friend and I were out on our usual jog
through the neighborhood. It was a beautiful summer day. As we
crossed the street in front of a large yellow truck, cheerfully chatting
about this and that, a sanitation worker accidentally dropped the highpressure hose he was holding in his hands. Before the man could bring
what seemed like a massive live snake back under control, the two of us
were sprayed from head to toe in raw sewage. Twice.
Needless to say it was a nasty business. We ran back to my friend’s
house, showered under the hottest water we could stand, and dumped
the clothes we were wearing into the trash. As soon as we were dry and
wrapped in bathrobes, we sat down to write.
Together we composed a complaint to the Los Angeles Sanitation
Department. We didn’t threaten to sue the city or in any way suggest
that the man with the hose was at fault. It was an accident. We
explained that though the incident was truly unpleasant, it had not
resulted in any lasting physical harm or injury. What we did claim was
that the city owed us for our discarded clothes.
Now the cost of two tee shirts and two pairs of shorts is a small
thing, but writing that letter helped us feel a lot better. Setting out our
complaint on paper got the bad taste out of our mouths—yes, the water
from the hose got into our mouths along with in our eyes and ears—
and allowed us to begin to laugh about it all.
When our $30 checks from the Sanitation Department arrived in
the mail, we cheered. This time around, the pen was mightier than the
hose.
Think of a situation where you might want to write a letter of
complaint. What would you say?
Writers on Writing 369