Not paying...pays off!

Back in the day, I got a library card. It was great. I loved going to the library and getting books, usually the next book in the Babysitter's Club or Mary Kate and Ashley series (yeah, I was a sophisticated child). Unfortunately, despite writing on the calender the due date of the books, I (well, my mom, because I couldn't drive!) could never get the books back to the library on time. And as a result, those late fees started racking up. At one point, probably in 4th or 5th grade, some nice librarian took the fines off, and I got a clean slate. And did that stay clean? No, no it did not. Before too long, that card had a pretty high debt on it, so instead of doing the responsible thing, and paying it off little by little, we all used my little brother's card. So from the time I was about 10, until a few days ago, I did not have a library card that was usable to my name. It was a very sad 9 years. Not really. Like I said, we had Michael's card. Anyways, point of this story. A few weeks ago, my mom wanted to see how much she owed on her card, and they told her they didn't have a record of her having a card. Imagine her excitement! After doing this, she suggested I go in and see if they still had me on record. So I went in a few days ago, went to the front desk and after seeing the librarian said "So, I was wondering if I could get a library card. I had one when I was like 5...But I haven't used it for a really long time and don't even know where it is." And she's like "Well, you should still be in here. Let me take a look." So she proceeded to look up my name, and finally she was like "I see here that you were on a payment plan" (they apparently take library debts seriously--at this point I was afraid she was gonna say how much I owed) "BUT it says that it has been resolved, so I'll report the card as lost and get you a new card!" I was so excited. Though, I felt a little bad for pretending like I didn't know about the fines..But whatever. I now have a clean library card! And now they send you email alerts the day before your books are due, so that should be no problem turning them in. Now, I just need some suggestions on books to read. The last time I went to that library, I was still in the children's section...The big adult section intimidated me. haha.

And just another short story about not paying late fees. As I mentioned before, I personally have funded the testing center at BYU with my late fees. Before I left, I had about 20 dollars left in fees there that I figure I'd pay once I got a job at home and starting raking in the money (yeah...about that). Well, a few weeks ago I decided to check my financial center on BYU...and imagine my delight when I saw those fee's had simply disappeared! Best day ever.

So moral of this story: Don't pay late fees! They eventually will go away (...even if it is ten years later).