In 2005, both my husband and I were working in Florida on assignments. I was getting ready to come back home so I contacted my previous employer and asked if I could come back to work with them when I’m done with Florida. My employer was happy to take me back and to get ready for that he asked me to attend a dedication project for one of our clients in a couple of weeks. That meant that I would fly in for just a couple of day and go back to Florida. That trip was going to reinstate my job which I was thrilled to have.

The dedication ceremony was going to start at 8 am and it was more than two hours away from where we live. I had made plans with few of my coworkers from the company I was going to rejoin to meet them at 6 am so we can drive together. I came home from Florida very late the night before and was very sleepy. I just changed my clothes and went to sleep.

Woke up at 4:00 am. went to the bathroom to use the toilet and it worked fine when I flushed, but when I ran the water to wash my hands, no water came out. I was very worried, did not know what to do and had no one to call that early in the morning. There was no way I was going to the ceremony without taking a shower. I remembered I was still a member at the health club and thought I’ll have time to go shower there and leave in time to make the event. When I got there, I found out they don’t open until 5:30 am and there was going to be late.

Even though at the time, I had no money and my husband was very bad about even giving me money to live, I had to go to a local motel and get a room just to take a shower. That shower cost me $89 plus tax. I was doing all of this and had no idea why the water was off. I thought there was something wrong with the pipes in our area and the water company was working on it overnight. I thought by morning all will be well, I just got in town at the most inconvenient time.

After I showered and changed, I left and went to meet my friends and while we were in the car heading to the ceremony, I told them about my experience and with the shower that morning. They laughed at the very expensive shower I had to take. I did not want to bother my husband with this story that early in the morning so I waited until around 10 am. I called him, told him what happened and kept telling him this must be the water company’s scheduled time to fix a pipe or a valve or something. He told me he was going to call to check on it. When he said that, I got worried. I thought to myself, can it be that he did not pay the water bill for two months? Is that even possible? Our water bill is no more than $30 per month, and we are making in access of $200,000.00 per year. He cannot be so stingy to not pay the water bill. Plus, the cutoff an reinstatement of the water cost more money than the bill itself. I just would not believe it.

Later in the afternoon when we were almost done with the event, I called my husband again to check if he found out anything about the water. I wanted to know if I should go home or go stay with my parents who lived close by. That’s when he told me that he not paid the water bill and the water company turned it off. I was so embarrassed, had no idea what to tell my friends since they kept asking me about it. I couldn’t stay on the phone with my husband to hear any more of his excuses. I said my quick goodbye while my brain was racing to come up with a believable lie to tell everyone I’m riding with on the way back. Today, after all these years, I don’t remember what I said to them to cover how insensitive man I was married to. All I remember from that day is how bad a felt when I found out how mean self centered my husband is.

All the panic I went through that morning, all the anguish, running from one place to another to take a shower before sunlight, and spending almost $100 that I really did not have because he did not pay the water bill. He was thinking since we were in Florida few months, he can save on the water bills and when I told him I’m going home, he never though twice to reinstate it and spare me the headache. He never thinks of anyone else, just himself.

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