Barking versus Biting

Last night I joined Mike's gym. While I was finishing up the paperwork with the college boy on staff, Mike took the boys upstairs to the childcare room. Just as I dotted my last "i", College Boy mentions that, by the way, there will be a one-time $20 fee for adding me on to the membership, in addition to the additional $25 monthly fee that Mike had discussed with the owner a couple of days before.

If there is anything that my husband gets upset about, it's additional and by-the-way fees. I mean, we almost left our newly purchased car on the lot when the dealer mentioned we had to pay $100 for some sort of security device they had provided. Luckily the guy decided to let the fee slide when Mike pretty much freaked out and threatened to leave.

And if you know my husband at all, it's pretty hard to imagine him freaking out or even raising his voice. He is a sensitive and gentle soul.

A sensitive and gentle soul who will not be tricked or talked into paying additional fees.

So when College Boy made this little announcement I sort of muttered under my breath that my husband was going to freak out when I told him. "But don't worry," I said, "I'll break it to him gently." As soon as I said this College Boy got very jumpy, pulling a $20 bill out of his wallet.

"Are you serious?", he kind of squeaked out, "because I'd just assume pay the $20 than have someone freak out on me." Well, come to find out, the week before a gym member went totally crazy, screaming at College Boy, and then figured out where he lived, and showed up at his door to continue the argument. Obviously, he was slightly traumatized.

Poor College Boy.

So I decided that I needed to clarify. I explained that when I said that my husband was going to "freak out", what I really meant to say was that he would probably come down and talk to him about it. Like have a conversation. I felt really bad that I scared this kid by exaggerating slightly.

And the $20 fee? Well it turns out that it was all a mistake anyway. It didn't apply to us. But when I went upstairs and start to tell Mike about the whole ordeal, he stopped me short as soon as the word "fee" was brought up. "What fee????," he growled. I mean he didn't even care that the mere mention of a possible "freak out" sent the boy downstairs into a near panic attack. As long as he didn't have to pay an extra $20.