Not-Heaven Hath No Fury Like A Boy Who Paid His Own Parking Ticket

If you feel the ground shake, hear the windows rattle, see the fine china stacked in your cabinet start to sway...don't worry. It's not the overdue New Madrid Fault paying a visit. It's merely a minor explosion at the School of Mines. That's the old name for the college the #1 son is attending. He's feeling a bit ballistic right now.

Shame on me for getting him all fired up. He called seeking my credit information, having determined that his wardrobe of shorts and two pairs of jeans will not get him through the midwest winter. Upon describing the state of Hillmomban finances, a discrepancy was noted by the steel-trap, penny-pinching mind of #1.

"I paid your student account. Silly me. I was under the assumption YOU were paying for your parking violation. Not me. When you told me back in September, 'I went and paid my parking violation,' I had no idea you had it put on your student account."

"Wait a minute. I DID pay for my ticket. Out of my bank account. I used my debit card. What do you mean they're billing you for it?"

"All I know is, there was the $15 charge from the student health center for your flu shot, and a $10 charge for a parking violation. Did you get another ticket?"

"No! And I shouldn't have gotten that one. All because I was backed into the space. I was in the lines. That shouldn't even be a ticket."

"Well, you can look it up. But I'm sure that's what the $10 charge was for."

"When was that? Around Labor Day? I've got it right here on my bank statement. And on my student account summary. PAID! I'm going to let them know about this! No way are they going to charge me for that again. I don't have their receipt. It was a tiny scrap of paper that came from a dot matrix printer. And their card-scanner was just a little swipe thing. I can't believe the way they do things around here! I'm going in there Monday to tell them what I think."

It's true that technology is not my friend. But even I find it appalling that an institution known for turning out engineers is still using a dot matrix printer. Sweet Gummi Mary! Not even the public schools use them anymore!