Saturday, February 23, 2008

The Ol' Switcheroo

The past 24 hours have been an interesting observation in credit card security and human laziness.

Coalminer Heather and I met up for lunch yesterday. That's right people. Indulge in a jealous moment. Go ahead. Uh huh.

Now that that is out of your system...we had lunch together at an equidistant chain restaurant location to make the coffee exchange.

CMGD ended up having to bring her brood along. To see us all packed into a booth was quite a sight. But aren't we always?

Lunch was great. Conversation was great. We played musical children. I supervised or held as needed while she did the diaper changes. Juggling toys, snacks, and boxes of leftovers we said our goodbyes and all was well.

Until the phone call this morning.

Apparently, we had juggled more than the kids' belongings. We had swapped credit cards. Now, this is not as exciting as if we had swapped husbands, but this presented a whole different dilemma.

It explains why yesterday afternoon at a certain superstore my zip code was not accepted as valid and my charges were denied. I had chalked it up to the move. That my husband had already changed our account information to our new address.

What is does not explain was the shopping I did with my mom last night. I swiped my card, the woman asked for my ID. My out-of-state ID, I might add. She held my drivers license next to my credit card, compared the signatures, thanked me and handed them back.

That's right. Just thanked me and handed them back.

My decidedly Slavic last name in no way, shape, or form resembles CMGD's British-esque last name. Unless the cashier was drunk, retarded, or lazy (possibly all three) there is just no way to confuse the two.

You can read CMGD's adventure to the grocery store to hear her version of how drunk, retarded and lazy her grocery story clerk was. Just leave it to say that we both seriously question the extent of our credit card company's security policies.

The end of this tale involves hours of driving to the nether regions of the Atlanta metro area. The upside is that she got to meet my little ones, and I got to take her out for the best damned Burro de la Roqueta this side of the Big Peach.

Thank god we like each other. CMGD has joked that we were separated at birth. She obviously got the smarts and the common sense because I am the one that fucked up the credit card exchange. I don't know what I was left with, but when I figure it out I will let you know.

9 comments:

Military Mom said...

Yep. I'm jealous. Big time. Not only because you two were in my home town, and I'm a wee bit homesick lately, but also because I would LOVE to meet you two! I hope you both had a good time, really! And the credit card thing? Yikes! Hope neither one of you made big purchases! That could have been a disaster! Glad it was discovered while you were still in town! I think I would have gone back to the store and had a chat with the manager!

A Free Man said...

Nice! We watched "Idiocracy" last night and your story about the store clerk makes me think of that movie. Not a great movie, but filled with the slack jawed morons that seem to run most cash registers these days.

RiverPoet said...

I'm so jealous that you met Heather! (And that she met you, but I think I'll be meeting you soon, too).

It's a good thing, if you were going to have your credit card mixed up, that it was with a friend. I had my wallet stolen once, and it's a nasty, chilling feeling when you realize someone has passed bad checks with your ID or has used your credit card to buy a plane ticket. I got it all straightened out, but it was like financial rape.

Peace - D

Anonymous said...

Now that is scary! Though I have to admit JA has used my debit card and obviously he is not a female like my name on the debit card.

Did you say anything to the store managers?

Coal Miner's Granddaughter said...

OK, wha? Swapping husbands? Mr. NATUI? You know about this? Ty-man says he might be up for it, if you dress up like slave Leia... :-)

Just kidding!

Can't wait to hook up again, as long as we do it with cash, baby! :-)

Not Afraid to Use It said...

@MM: I am sorry you are so homesick, hon. I hope you start to feel better soon!

@CiO: I will have to add that to my rental queue.

@Momma: I would say that is a sure thing! If not at a hockey game, just for a laid-back dinner.

@Aithne: I haven't said anything to the manager. I don't know if her name is on the receipt. I suppose this is a fire-able offense, and I don't know if I want her to lose her job over it. She probably should, but I am on the fence about it.

@CMGD: We will DEF be using different cards the next time!

As for the Leia thing, I have to say that is something I have not done. That Friends episode was hilarious, though.

Major Bedhead said...

I never sign the back of my credit card - I put "ask for license". People look at the back of my card and I'd say maybe one time in 50 do I get asked for my license. My eyes are going to get stuck rolling up into my head one of these days, I just know it.

Mouthy Girl said...

Jay. Sus.

1. I'm envious that you both were able to make some time!

2. I'm so glad we didn't fuck up OUR cards! I am an OCD freak where my card's concerned because I don't use credit cards. If we'd swapped cards, it would have been my bankcard...and I would have committed harey carey! (sp?)

3. Cashiers...most of them are idiots. Period. Blah.

Anonymous said...

Are you busy Thursday? Though I will be with child.....three year old child that is. I'm all for a credit card swap, as long as the bill goes along with it!