The kids' school cafeteria has this system that is basically like a credit or debit account. Every kid gets an account number and if they are going to buy their lunch that day, they just enter their number in the machine. Parents are to put money in the account if they want their kids to buy their lunches. We usually pack lunches for our kids, but once in awhile allow them to buy their lunches. We put some money in their accounts. We figured with Nicholas in kindergarten and his first year with this system, it would be iffy as to what he would do. It turned out that Nicholas liked eating breakfast at school. And most of time he would eat lunch there too. Even though we put money in all the kids' accounts and they were taking their lunch to school, we still had to pay, when they would go over their assigned amount.
This happened twice. At the end of the school year, you have to make sure everything is paid up, so the kids can get their report cards. We got the bills for all the kids. Nicholas actually ended up having the least amount owed, which was funny, since we had thought he was buying breakfast and lunch all the time. Zachary owed very little as well. And Sarah didn't owe very much at all, however she had a book from the library that she couldn't find to return. The book was $6, so her total went up some because of that.
Amanda and Anthony ended up with the most money owed. On the second to last day of school, I went to the business office to pay everything up to date. The lady there gave me two totals (one for the high school kids and one for the elementary kids). I went to the elementary office first. I paid for Nicholas, Sarah and Zach, no problem. They gave me a receipt, which I left there and had to go back to get it.
Then I went to the high school. The high school is two different buildings (one for the jr. high and one for the sr. high) and the two buildings are connected with an overpass, bridge type thing. During school hours the school is locked down. You can only get in through the sr. high. So I rang the bell and went to the sr. high office to get a pass to go through the building to the jr high office. But when I got there, they said I could pay there, in the sr high office. I only had cash, so I gave them a fifty dollar bill. They didn't have change, so they called the cafeteria manager to come to the office. I got my change, and no receipt. I asked for a receipt and they gave me a xeroxed paper that was a copy of a post it note with the amounts owed on it. Didn't mark it paid or anything. I had a weird feeling about it, but thought it's done, don't worry about it.
Well......
The little ones got their report cards the next day (last day of school). Amanda and Anthony said the school was going to mail their cards. We waited and waited. Did we get their report cards in the mail? No, we got a bill from the cafeteria saying we had to pay their lunch fees. That's just great! Today, Amanda and I went to the school to ask about their report cards. I took the papers that said I paid at the elementary office and the copy of the post it note. We went to the sr. high office. They said they couldn't check anything, because the kids are in jr. high and I said but I paid here. They said it didn't matter.
Off we went to the jr high office. I explained the whole story to the secretary. She was very understanding, very worried about the money. Told me it wasn't my fault and she didn't doubt for second that I paid. Because in her words, why would I pay for all the other kids and not the older ones. She said she would track down the cash. She also told Amanda that if there is a problem next school year (with the money still being shown), then Amanda should go see her. The secretary said she would take care of it. That was so nice of her! I appreciated it. And Amanda and Anthony now have their report cards. So everything worked out after all. But what a pain in the butt that was to deal with. I'm kind of proud of myself for handling it. That is something I would of passed off on Rich to do, because I don't like dealing with that kind of stuff. But I did it and all is well.
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