And another funny one from the archives

After I posted this, I was reminded of another funny event that happened at the same time as this post.

One evening, the poor little girl from the second link above - the one that was wearing a curtain as a karate gi (uniform) - was still there after class was over and after I had changed back into regular clothes. No big deal as this night was one where I stayed late to clean up, and her mom had informed me of the situation in advance and had worked with me to make arrangements.

Also there was a young boy of about 9. He had just started in the class, too. His mother had been late picking him up every night. Tonight, she was VERY late. Classes ended at 7:00. I usually stayed to clean up once a month (and this was the night for that) until 8:00. She came strolling in at 8:55 (remember, class ended at 7:00 and she had not informed me she would be late).

By this time, the girl's mom had long since come and picked her up. She was wondering, too, about the little boy.

I advised the boy's mother that the YMCA's policy was that I was required to stay with the child until the parent or a legal guardian came to pick him up. The YMCA also dictated that if nobody was there to pick up a child after a regularly scheduled program, then there was a charge after 10 minutes of $15. The charge increased by $1 per minute after that.

Naturally the mom argued the point. Of course, I offered to let her speak to the General Manager if she didn't like my reciting the rule.

This mom wanted us to just leave her son there to his own devices while she was doing... whatever.

Somehow, when the management informed her that not only had I told her (the mom) the truth, but the fact that the YMCA was required to notify Child Protective Services and the Chattanooga Police Department if a child was left over an hour after a program without prior arrangements.

Then the mom told the management that I had made prior arrangements with her to stay "as late as need be" "without charges from the YMCA or from me (Usagi)" as often as she needed. The manager asked, then, why she was up there arguing about it in the first place. Especially since she had started the complaint by saying I had not let her just leave her kid there unattended.

That boy would be about 25 now. I do hope he's still alive.