Pointing out that you pay our bills or, in my case, pay my paycheck, probably isn't going to go over well. I am well aware of how a business works- pointing it out is a powerplay on the parent(s) part and I think it's kind of rude. Not to memtion the fact that many of the parents who have pointed this out to me are the same parents that pay their tuition/fees late on a monthly basis. I can't count the number of times that I have wanted to point out that they haven't paid us anything in 2 months...
I can't believe I'm going to argue with you in your new mom state, but here goes. This is SUCH a hot button topic with me... I think most people who pay late aren't paying late because they are rude and disrespectful. They're paying late because cheer is a HUGE financial burden and perhaps for their family its even more of one (yes, I'm no saint and have paid late AND have pointed out that I'm the one paying). So the reason that more often than not its the late payers pointing this out is because it's the late payers who are drowning in bills and probably robbing peter to pay Paul to keep paying you. So it's a little insulting when you then send an email and it just goes unanswered. Not even a "I'm super busy, but I did receive this and will discuss it with you tuesday". Because we're sitting here obsessing about your gym 24 hours a day trying to figure out how to pay you and we'd just like a reply. Even if it's late, we're still paying it.
Trust me, I'll be the first to agree that YES, some questions probably are self answering and can wait. But the packet given at the beginning of the season very clearly states that Allstar cheer is a huge financial and time commitment, and if one isn't ready to make that commitment we shouldn't. We are told to schedule vacations around it, miss family functions, miss SCHOOL DAYS to go to longer comps, and basically our whole family is expected to eat, sleep, and breathe cheer. I've even been asked to rearrange my work schedule (at my fulltime CAREER) to get my kid to 5 o'clock practices (which I did). We do it because we know it needs to be done, usually at great sacrifice to our finances and the rest of our families - and most certainly any social life we ever used to have. So telling us that you have jobs and families and lives kinda falls on deaf ears because most of us are thinking "Oh really? Believe it or not I ALSO have a job, a family, and a life! Why is yours important and mine isn't?" Really, we get emails from the gym aaaallll the time that require a response within the same day. Trust me, I also have 4 thousand emails from my non cheer life I have to attend to, but I still reply.
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that a ton of what you get is probably nonsense, but I kinda feel like a reply is not too much to ask. Not the same day, not a minute after you receive it, but within one to two BUSINESS days is reasonable.
Lastly, as for the example that you wouldn't point out at any other business that you were paying their salaries... I have NEVER worked somewhere where this wasn't pointed out to me on a daily basis by clients. My last job I would get told this daily from realtors and attorneys ("Well, if it wasn't for people like me and this project your salary wouldn't get paid, so I guess you'll HAVE to stay late and finish it"), and I also was told in no uncertain terms that if I didn't respond to emails within 24 hours (not counting weekends) I wouldn't have a job.
Just saying that "I'm busy/I have a family/I have a life/this is a part time job/your question is stupid/I have too many emails" doesn't work in any other job in any other industry - why is it OK in ours?
***OK, rant over. Sorry... This topic just always gets me fired up. <insert that little blushing face that I don't have on my phone> Think I'll go back to the book thread...
