I was out late last night, and literally stumbled back to my door from the main entrance. I was ready to change into PJs and go to bed. When I unlocked my door, a sealed envelope fell to the floor. I saw that it was a letter from the association. I thought to myself, "Great, what surprise emergency funding do we have to pay for now?"
Since I started living at my current place of dwelling, they've raised the yearly association fees every year and have had at least 2 (or 3? See I've lost track already!) additional payments for all residents to pay, basically because the previous management of association funds under-priced the dues to sell units more quickly and because they stole money from the account. Lovely. I get that shit happened and people have been working on it to make things right, fair, and dependable.
Last June, the association finally caught up to the digital age and we were finally allowed to make direct payments for our dues. Sign me up! Personally, I prefer to make the payments electronically myself, but this was the next best thing. And I haven't had to worry about paying it on time with a check ever since.
Apparently, that is, until recently. The surprise envelope was not a call for additional funds. It was a letter to notify me of my tardiness in paying my dues. Yeah, the one that gets paid automatically. There was also a form to sign up for direct payments attached as well. How thoughtful. I was also slapped with some additional fees because being late means you're penalized $5+ a day for not paying it on time.
Thing is, anyone who's late paying stuff gets logged into the big binder of humiliation which is in the Common Room. I'm sure my name appears along with the other broke-ass delinquent mofos in the building, as well as how late one is in paying it back and what is owed. Except I'm not even supposed to be there!
So yeah, the pissiness I felt woke me up and I wrote a letter in response to the notification. I had to bite my tongue mentally because I was so annoyed. How hard is it to actually look it up on your end? Because my bank activity clearly states that the money was withdrawn on the day it's supposed to. Also, how hard is it to also look at my history? One would've seen right away that I haven't been late, ever, and that I was also making direct deposits. I included a screen cap of my bank activity to show the money was withdrawn, hence the payment was made, and requested a letter to confirm the reversal of the fees I was charged with.
I better have that letter at my door when I get home from work today, that's all I'm saying. I don't know why I'm still so annoyed by all of this. I was hoping that venting about it would help alleviate some of the saltiness I feel. Instead, I think I'm even more pissed about this. I think it's because I make sure that I'm on time with this kind of thing. Having good financial standing is one thing my parents insisted on in my growing up.
It's one thing to be accused of being late with payment in private. But the fact that it's made public to anyone who walks in the Common Room, I don't want my neighbors to think I'm not responsible. I know a total of 3 people (sort of) in that entire building, so basically no one knows me. I don't want this to be the first thought in people's head when I meet them for the first time. Some of my neighbors are kinda shallow and catty like that. Which is probably why I stay away from them in the first place. For example, my next door neighbor, an elderly woman, won't even talk to me. I suspect it's because I'm a minority. Or maybe she knows I'm a thug deep down inside. Okay, maybe it's that and not the color of my skin.
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