An Overdue Issue...

My daughter is on a swim team which I pay a monthly fee for. We joined in the spring and immediately I realized the payment was going to be an issue for me - not because I can't afford it - but because they won't do an automatic withdrawal out of my bank account. How annoying is that? I have to go in each month and pay - and before you ask - yes, I even requested prepayment of a few months at a time - they said no.

So why is this such an problem for me? I must confess I have overdue issues. What can I say, I am a forgetful - sometimes irresponsible girl - in a lot of aspects of my life. I have had some late fees at the library that were real doozy's. To make myself feel better, I decided to tell myself that my overdue fines are just an annual membership fee I have to pay. You would think with all the "overdue" issues I have - that I would avoid libraries, dvd rentals and the like. But I don't. I guess I always have this lingering goal in the back of my head that I will return things on time.

Now with swim team, I did try to make a valiant effort to pay on time. For the most part I've been only a week late (which is good for me). Then summer arrived. In mid-June they switched to an outdoor pool for part of June, July and August. It's actually closer to my house - so I was initially happy with the new venue.

Then I tried to pay for swim team. It was the middle of July which meant I was already two weeks late with payment (my goal of not being overdue with things kind of took a back seat when I decided to invite Noah's Ark to float in my basement). Anyway, I went to the indoor pool to pay - and the girl told me I had to pay the outdoor pool. I was a little frustrated - and of course I forgot about it -- and a week went by.

Then, I went to the outdoor pool to pay and the girl told me I had to pay at the indoor pool (I made her call to verify- and yes indeed I was to pay at the indoor pool). Are you kidding me? Did they not realized how challenged I was with paying on time in the first place.

Two weeks passed - and again I tried to pay the indoor pool. Once again, the indoor pool told me I had to pay at the outdoor pool. Does the word sabotage mean anything to you? I imagined them secretly laughing at the crazy lady who keeps driving 15 miles between pools trying to pay for her daughter's imaginary swim team.

Finally, yesterday--on August 20th, now over a month and a half overdue with my payment - I went to the outdoor pool to pay. I had outlined my plan of attack. Plan A: Refuse to leave until they accepted my money. Plan B: Threaten to drink all the diet coke at their concession stand (which is secretly a goal of mine anyway). Plan C: Quit the stinkin' swim team that was too good for my money.

Fortunately, I didn't have to resort to any of that. The girl happily accepted my Visa. Although she did feel it necessary to point out - that "Hmmm, you are overdue a month and a half on your payments." It was smile or scream. I chose to smile - it was long overdue.