I am so irresponsible, I can't even put it into words. I can only describe to you the ongoings of last night.

[cell phone rings]
Becca: Hey, Kennda, what's up?
Kennda: Is there a problem with the water? Cari and I are here and it hasn't been on all afternoong.
Becca: Uh oh. [remembering the last time I paid a water bill was in late February]. Kennda, you know the stack of bills on the edge of my desk, could you flip through it and see if you find a water bill? [the way I pay bills, is that I stack them on my desk, and every two weeks or so, I go through them all and pay everything that has arrived]
Kennda: I couldn't find the water bill, but I found a late notice.Becca: Go figure.
Kennda: Its postmarked March 26, it says the bill was due March 16, and water service will be cutoff on April 7. You owe $31.62

At this point I am completely mortified! My water has cutoff for a measley $31.62! I am kicking myself for being so irresponsible, especially since I am usually extremely timely in paying bills (actually, I have most of them set up to automatically debit the minimum amount due on their due date if I don't get around to paying them sooner).

The thing is, I'm growing angry, because I recall that to get the water turned on in the first place I had to pay a $200 security deposit. What the heck are they doing with the security deposit if they turned my water off! Anyway, I call the League City water department

Answering machine: Our office hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. [it is now 8 p.m. and I am leaving work]. If this is an emergency, call XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Since its an emergency, I call the number

Man: Hello, League City Police Department
Becca: [confused] I thought I was calling the emergency number for the water department?
Man: [thick texan accent] Yes, Ma'am, we double as the water department after hours
Becca: [what kind of ho-bunk town do I live in?] Well, my water has been cutoff and I need it back on. I live at XXX.
Man: Yes, Ma'am, I see you're on the cutoff list. You'll have to wait until tomorrow morning so you can go in and pay the bill.
Becca: I shouldn't have to wait until tomorrow morning - water is a necessity. I paid a deposit to prevent this very thing from happening.
Man: Well, ma'am, I sympathize with your plight. I see here your bill has been paid with your deposit, and you still have $170 remaining in your deposit, but you are on our cutoff list, and we are not authorized to page anyone in the water department to turn on the water of someone on our cutoff list. We are only allowed to page them in an emergency or if you have proof you paid
Becca: [trying to reason with The Way Things are Done] This is an emergency, I don't have water, I don't have showers, I don't have a toilet. And your records show I paid the bill with my deposit. Page the water department.
Man: Sorry, ma'am, I just can't.
Becca: Put me on the line with your supervisor.
[holding for a long time]Supervisor: Hello, ma'am, I am the night chief here.
Becca: I want my water turned on now [explain the story again]
Supervisor: Sorry, ma'am, we can't do anything we aren't permitted to page the water department because your name is on our list.
Becca: Well, then, I'd like to report a theft. [I proceeded to report the League City Water Department for stealing my deposit and still disconnecting my water].

At this point I throw my arms up in frustration and resign myself to a night with no water. What, do I live in the ghetto? I do some research. There is only one city ordinance governing this whole situation, requiring a deposit for people with no utility history (like me). Additionally, I find all sorts of tenant rights rules requiring 30 days notice before cutting off utilities. Home owners, apparently, don't qualify for this sort of courtesy, because my bill wouldn't even be thirty days late for another week and my water had been cut off! I call and find out that deposits given to both my electric and gas company would be used to cover a late payment (not that I've ever paid them late) before any service is disconnected. This water thing is a complete anomoly.

So, at 7 a.m., I am at the doorstep of City Hall, very smelly, and more than slightly annoyed.

Cashier: So, you're water has been cutoff.
Becca: [irrate] I'd like to speak with your supervisor about some of your policies here.
Supervisor: [after I explain my apparently misguided notion that paying a deposit would prevent any sort of interuption of service if my past due amount is less, in this case, far less, then the amount of my money they have sitting in their bank accounts collecting interest] Well, I'm sorry, ma'am, but that's our policy, we don't set it, its based on city ordinances.
Becca: Well, I happen to have read all the city ordinances last night, and I think that you have a lot of flexibility in when you cut off the water and whether you would use the deposit money first. I think you need to change your policy, especially since you don't have 24 hour services, cutting off a utility should be a method of absolute last resort.
Supervisor: I'm sorry ma'am, you'll have to take it up with city council and the finance administrator, they tell us what to do.

Anyway, I paid my bill, I got them to waive the re-connect fee, because they're idiots, and I went home and took a lovely jog. The water still wasn't on after the jog, and so while I was waiting, I wrote a letter to the mayor, city council, and the finance administrator with my suggestions on how our utility department should be run, including the following:
1. Accept payment over the phone, through direct deposit, or the Internet (right now the only payment option is walking in a bill, or writing and mailing in a check)

2. Stop sending the bill on pieces of paper smaller than a postcard. I learned, while speaking with the cashier this morning, that many people come into complain they only get late notices, never bills, cause the bills get slipped in magazines or junk mail and just lost, while the late notices are big and orange

3. Utilities should have 24 hour service, should not cutoff water until the deposit is eaten through, and should not cutoff water for a bill less than 30 days overdue.

At the end of the letter, I demanded my deposit back, since there is absolutely no reason for them to have my money sitting in their accounts for no particular purposes. So, that's my story of my own irresponsibility. As my mom said "I bet you'll never pay your water bill late again".