Forgotten Sleep

There have been several times in my adult life when I’ve been asked to pony up $1 to pay for something. Most of the time it’s been pretty funny — the first time I paid taxes as an employed person, I owed the feds $1. I gladly whipped out my check book, wrote out one clam to the IRS and promptly laughed my way out of H&R Block.

My morning coffee will occasionally run me a dollar. The pack of stickers that Big Girl likes is actually less than a dollar — shocking for anything that will pacify a toddler (she’s 3, is she still considered a toddler?).

So, in most cases, I have no arguments with bringing out the sad looking, tattered $1 bill that floats around in the free space in my purse. Frankly, it’s so pathetic looking that I’m sometimes glad to part with it (where exactly are all the pretty $1 bills?) But, I have to say, there is one instance where I do not like being asked to shell out a buck.

Loving Husband and I purchased our current bed from Pier 1 Imports. Not the classiest place to buy furniture, but hey, it’s better that just having a bed frame. We applied for a Pier 1 Imports credit card (approved, thank you very much) and recently finished paying off said bed. Balance on card: Zero dollars.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when I get a new credit card statement from Pier 1 with a $1 balance. Say what? Yeh, I would never leave $1 on a credit card bill…that’s a stance I just wouldn’t take. So, I do a little bit of reading to find out just what happened. You guessed it: finance charges.

Apparently, Pier 1 is going to get their pound (or let’s say ounce) of flesh even if you don’t owe them any money. Finance charges on a clear credit card amount to $1 in their eyes. Unless I cancel the card outright, every month, these thieving SOBs will send me a new credit card statement, brazenly claiming that I owe them $1.

I realize that this isn’t a lot of money. But, seeing as how I don’t intend to shop at Pier 1 again, the grand total of $12 going to them every year is a bit galling. For that amount, I could get Big Girl a subscription to the National Geographic Kids magazine. That’s a far better investment, in my opinion, than throwing cash at a company for doing nothing.

So, I think I might just call up Pier 1 today, thank them for their close attention to my account and ask them nicely to press the delete key on my credit card number.

Have a nice day.