LEARNING THE HARD WAY

I had only a dim memory of these events until I came across the following account—written at the time—among my papers:

I got Ms. Carregio’s name from the Music Department at Long Beach State, where she taught. After auditioning for her—she tested my voice and we talked about my previous training—in a burst of hope and enthusiasm, I paid her for a month of lessons, two per week, with a large traveler’s check I’d been wanting to use, and I rashly did this despite the fact that she was willing to let me pay per session.

So I was chagrinned after my first real lesson to find that my throat ached, knowing from Mrs. Unruh that this wasn’t a good sign. I talked to Ms. Carregio about it, of course, but she didn’t seem concerned, only encouraged me to give it a chance, promising things would get better. When they only got worse and I found myself so hoarse after my lessons that I couldn’t sing for the rest of the day, I told her that her approach wasn’t working for me, that it was too different from my previous teacher’s, and she graciously agreed to refund the rest of my money, saying she’d send me a check the following week.

When the check didn’t come and I called her back, her husband informed me that she’d gone on tour and wouldn’t be back for a couple of months. Then I found myself having to pinch my pennies, thanks to unexpected expenses, so the delay was a hardship. As soon as she was due back, I phoned, and once again she assured me she’d send me a check promptly. Well, I waited… And waited… But the next time I talked to her, she announced she’d changed her mind; she was willing to give me more lessons, she said, but not to refund my money. When I reiterated how the lessons had affected my voice, she retorted that I was rigid and couldn’t learn from anybody. I told her frankly then that I was financially strapped—and, to my relief, she reversed herself again, saying she’d just been trying to teach me a lesson. The last time we spoke, however, she told me she’d decided definitively not to refund my money. Trying to keep my cool, I pointed out that I could take her to small claims court, but her response was that she’d simply say I failed to show up for my remaining lessons. I then threatened to go to the Music Department and pass out an account of how she’d treated me to the students there; I even went so far as to write one up but never followed through.