American Airlines is suffering the wrath of the traveling public because they have initiated a surcharge on the first bag you check on one of their aircraft. The surcharge increases with the second and third bags, but by imposing a charge on the first bag, they have effectively imposed a charge on almost everyone who chooses to fly American. And, it turns out, people don't like paying extra charges. Welcome to my world.
It seems as though caregivers (at least this caregiver) have been paying stiff "surcharges" for a very long time and for a wide variety of activities. You'd like to invite me to a barbecue? That sounds great! Just let me "get someone" to be with Jeanne while I'm gone. You have an extra ticket to that sold-out USC football game? I'd love to! Let me "line someone up" for Jeanne first. Bottom line -- caregivers are used to paying the "surcharge" in life. Sometimes I pay it, and sometimes I have to pass on the invitation or opportunity.
Our "circle of support" is more limited than others. And Jeanne now requires trained, specialized care. So in our case, there aren't any friends or family members available to help out. That means that I end up hiring a qualified, certified, bonded someone through an agency. I don't have a complaint with the caregivers that I hire. But it's a financial hit that usually serves to mitigate an otherwise "good time."
This is top of mind today because I'm making the final preparations for my trip to Las Vegas next week. If you've been following this saga, then you know that my hotel room is being "comped." So the only expenses that I need to really consider are transportation, food and gambling. Food and gambling are easily controllable expenses. Driving or flying to Las Vegas from Los Angeles is about a push. But the one additional expense that I have to stop and consider is the hundreds of dollars that I'll spend to make sure that Jeanne is "covered" for the 3 days that I'm gone. It's the single biggest expense associated with this trip. That makes for quite a surcharge.
It's strange -- of all of the expenses associated with caring for Jeanne, this is the one that stands out in my mind and just rubs me the wrong way. And please don't misunderstand, caring for Jeanne is the single best part of my world. But this feels like it's about something else. Maybe I'm like all of those fliers on American Airlines. No matter how great, how much fun or how important the destination, nobody likes to get arbitrarily dinged with an extra charge.
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