credit card theft

The day before Thanksgiving I swiped my card at the gas station and the gas pump told me to see the cashier. Actually it didn’t “tell” me to do that. It told me about the weather, or some other local news thing because there’s a TV screen on the top that acts like it’s some sort of TV channel to keep you entertained while you pump your gas.

Only I couldn’t pump any gas because the other little screen off to the side was telling me that I had to see the cashier. When I went inside to see the cashier, I had to give her a different credit card because my usual card was busy getting denied.

I came home and saw that several charges to various gas stations in southern California had taken place. Large amounts, like $75 and $100, appeared on my online statement, which seemed odd because who buys $75 of gas? And who buys that much gas ten times in one week? Did I travel through some space-time continuum earlier that week to the year 2106 to Los Angeles and pay $18 per gallon for fuel? And then completely forget about it?

The lady on the phone who immediately canceled my card asked if it was okay if my new card arrived in 7-10 business days? It was the day before the day before Black Friday and one week before I was leaving the country, so no, it wasn’t okay if my new card arrived in 7-10 business days, but I tried to keep my tone neutral because I assumed, by her accent, that she didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving in her country and may not have understood the commercial insanity that was the biggest shopping day of the year.

I guess I’m one of those types of people you would refer to as unsympathetic toward thieves, or maybe I’m just getting old because I can’t believe that after all this time, people still thinks it’s okay to steal. They actually see it as an option when considering the different ways to make a living or go on luxury holidays.

But enough about me. Let’s talk about a bunch of other people. On Wednesday I’m hosting a party. A White Elephant Gift Exchange party, where a bunch of other bloggers and I have exchanged gifts, real gifts, in the mail and everything, and will be showing off our presents on Wednesday. So come on over on Wednesday and see what everybody got, won’t you?