By Danna Shirley ~
March 2025
As a 76-year-old who has lived a very long time and shuttled through many titles: clerk, secretary, temp, transcriber, volunteer, Admin Asst, etc., I would like to encourage any young person reading this account to take heed.
I have learned to keep ALL records for a designated period-of-time before shredding. This was learned the hard way when searching for a VIP (very important paper) and could not find it. At other times I would whisper a “thank You” after locating what I needed. I’m saying all of this to relate a recent story that testifies to the value of saving paperwork.
I used a CPAP machine for about fifteen years. It was recalled for some problem that didn’t affect me but I turned it in and signed a paper. I KEPT THIS PAPER and filed it away somewhere thinking that I would never need it again.
Much later I got a notice in the mail to return the CPAP or I would be charged for it. What! Now where did I file that piece of paper? The search began. Found it! I went back to the office and showed them my paperwork. Now they had to make a copy and keep it for their records.
Done! Not quite! I didn’t remember signing a notice of a Class Action Lawsuit regarding the CPAP machine. It had not been a problem to me but I must have signed in for the lawsuit. I’ve always thought in cases like this, “Nothing will come of it!”
Coming down to March 24, 2025 I received a check in the mail for $168.24 as my part in the Class Action Lawsuit.
Ergo, there is value in saving your paperwork...and to file it correctly! If I had not saved that first piece of paper, I would have had to pay for a machine I had already turned in and the process would have stopped right there.
