Five-Star Disability

Hey folks!

I found this entry into a journal of mine way back in October, 2018.  It slipped my mind as soon as I got home!

Blog about the trouble at TKD.

TKD means Takwondo.

The incident in particular was about me picking up a reimbursement cheque.

My youngest son had shown an aptitude for physical activity, still does.  We signed him up for TKD as an outlet to his energy.

He liked it a lot and was pretty good.

When summer rolled around, we took two months off training, and the boy, upon returning, couldn’t find his mojo.

So we stopped.

My wife had set up an automatic payment plan to withdraw monthly fees on the first of the month!  Yet, it takes a week to actually sever this set up.  As it so happened, we were deducted one month’s fees after we had stopped.

It was no big deal, my wife said, she had called the Master (the head honcho with a black belt in the nth degree), a cheque had been cut to reimburse our payment.  Someone had to go pick it up.

That someone was me, The Deaf-Blind Dad!

The wife had explained to me that there would a cheque for her.  And she also had informed me the boy had lost his mojo, his ability and interest.  I was very clear on the matter.

Now this is where the Trouble arose.

I went to the TKD school one afternoon in mid October.  I had not planned to stop by that particular day, but I had over an hour before I was due home, the school was just two blocks from where I was standing at the moment.  And, did I mention it was a beautiful early fall day, the sun was out, shining, warm.  All those good vibes!  How could I resist a walk to the TKD school!

Upon arriving, I spoke to the receptionist, a lovely bright woman.  I requested a paper and pen to communicate clearly.  Please remember my voice is really crappy due to my ataxia; I sound like an elephant with a bad sinus cold talking through a funnel jammed with cotton!  How’s that for an descriptive sentence?!

I wrote down: Hi, I am Craig MacLean, you have a cheque for my wife.  George is not continuing TKD training.

Instead of looking for the cheque, the lovely bright lady wrote down: I called your wife and we had decided that George would continue.  I am not charging you for this month.

George is not his real name, obviously!

I was a little flabbergast, and texted my wife right away.  Did she chat with Lovely Bright Lady?

I knew that my wife was busy and would not reply immediately.

I wrote: My wife said George has stopped.  And I’m here to get the cheque.

Lovely Bright Lady wrote: I did discuss with her, and that George can continue this week.

I knew I had to go, so I said I will be back and left.

While I was waiting for the bus, my wife did text me and said she had no such conversation with Lovely Bright Lady.  My wife had spoken to the Master, head honcho – black belt to the nth degree.  She ended the text by saying I was the parent, and I knew what was happening.

Okay!  I felt duped because I let Lovely Bright Lady take advantage of me, as if I didn’t know the situation!

At home, I typed out a letter that went something like this:

George had decided to stop TKD.  My wife spoke with the Master, who had made a cheque.  I did not appreciate coming in two times to get it.  I also noted that respect is paramount, I feel disrespected because you did not listen to me yesterday and tried to override the situation to keep George at your school.

This is not a verbatim recollection of the letter, yet the points are clear.

Lovely Bright Lady gasped, and ran upstairs to the real office.  She was back in 4 minutes and handed me a cheque.  She then wrote: Very sorry about that, I thought George would be continuing.  He was such a good student.  I will miss seeing him!

Thank you, I said, and pocketed the cheque and walked out.

Question for you, dear readers: Why did Lovely Bright Lady try to hoodwink me to believe George wanted to continue, even through her boss has already decided?

Person with the best answer will win a chocolate bar of their choice!  You need to pick it up, and pay for it!  Yes, that was a rather clumsy hoodwinking!

But seriously, please answer the question!