Sounds Like Her Brain Is A Little Starved Also

I work reception at a high school. Kids pay for their lunch with swipe cards, which their parents can load with however much money they like. However, we recently made a policy that if a child has no money on the card, they can still buy a meal at the student kitchen. This is to ensure that no child goes hungry because a parent forgot to top up the card or is a little short one week.

We send out an email to parents to inform them of this new policy.

The week it’s launched, I receive the following phone call from a parent.

Parent: “You guys sent me an email saying I hadn’t paid my son’s card, but there’s money on it.”

Me: “Let me check that for you.”

I search the system and see that the child does indeed have credit on there. I can’t see any messages that went out informing them of a low balance.

Me: “I can confirm that there is credit on the card. I can’t see any emails sent to you regarding a low or zero balance. When did you receive the email?”

Parent: “A few days ago!”

Me: “Do you have the email in front of you?”

Parent: “Yeah.”

Me: “Can you read me what it says?”

Parent: “We’re writing to inform you about our new ‘no child goes hungry’ policy…”

Then, it clicks. I know the email she is talking about.

Me: “That email wasn’t informing you about a low balance. It was informing you that if your child ever has a zero balance, they would still be able to get food—”

Parent: “But there’s money on the card!”

Me: “Of course, but if there was ever a time in the future that they didn’t, the email is just letting you know that they can still get food.”

Parent: “But I always top up my son’s card! Why are you sending me this email?”

Me: “We sent this email to every parent to make them aware of a policy change. You don’t need to worry about it. As I said, it’s only if there isn’t any money on it. We’re doing it to make sure no child goes hungry at school.”

Parent: “My son never goes hungry! I always make sure he has money on his card! Why would you send me something like this?”

No matter how I tried to explain it, this woman just didn’t seem to understand. In the end, I told her to disregard the email and she ended the call.