well. today has been a very busy day indeed.
at roughly 6:30am this morning, i made my usual stop at starbucks for a lovely caramel macciato and piadini (breakfast sandwich). the folks there already have me tagged as ‘a regular’ and know my voice at the speaker… which amuses me and is rather nice.
i pull up to the window and hand over my nice, shiny new checkcard to pay.
“hrm. it didn’t take it. let me try again.” the girl at the window grins, certain that it’s the machine or maybe she swiped it upside down. we laugh and joke about it.
the second attempt is declined as well. she is embarrassed for me, while i’m astonished, “that’s insane,” i tell her, “i have several hundred dollars in balance. can you try it again?”
she does. same result.
i begin to hand her back the coffee and sandwich, apologizing as i NEVER carry cash anymore. she smiles to me and says, “tell you what, how ’bout today, it’s our treat?”
i drive away grateful and reminded yet again why i like starbucks.
i get to work and the day swings into gear. somewhere between morning efforts, i check my online banking.
what. the. fuck.
according to my bank, i’m -$44.
now, i am dyslexic and, on rare occasion, i screw up carrying a number and it has, here and there, caused issues. but i know for a fact that i should have several hundred dollars in balance as i just balanced my checkbook the night before.
something is VERY wrong.
so.
i shoot an email to customer service there and then, asking them to tell me what they show as pending (as i cannot see it online) and i think something is seriously wrong.
i have no choice but to proceed with my day. i ring up my roomie and have to humiliate myself to ask him to run $50 down to the bank for me just in case it’s dyslexia induced. he agrees to do so and we ring off.
an hour later, i check online banking and, thank the stars, it shows a balance of $5 and change. enough to keep things from going stupid on me.
thoroughly distracted now, i make a mess of an email/training session i’m managing and wind up inviting a crapload of people who neither know anything about it or care to. this shows up in the form of my vice president arriving at my desk to announce (in something more than a whisper, mind you) that ‘you’re creating chaos.’
needless to say, this is not something you want your exective to EVER tell you. i immediately ask for a briefing, get it, and agree to send out an apology stating (in effect) that i’m so new that i’m due to make stupid mistakes here and there.
wonderful.
so. it’s 12:30 and, humiliated yet again and done with THAT, i decided i need to get out of there and try to have lunch before my 1:30 meeting. i have to buzz home to do so because, as you may recall from the above, i have no money and no access to any until the bank issue is resolved.
so.
i get home, walk in, tell my roomie i’m home for lunch and sit down to check the online banking again.
i’m now showing a balance of -$0.11.
what. the. FUCK.
i call the bank and tell them that something is SERIOUSLY wrong and could they please take a look at my account.
she pulls it up and starts to walk me through the pending transactions…
can-am pizza. check. we had that for dinner last night.
starbucks from yesterday. check. i hit that every morning on the way in.
then she says, ‘oh… wait… it looks like your visit to nordstrom’s is the problem.’
i actually choke laughing, “NORDSTROM’S? Honey, I shop at THRIFT STORES, I can’t AFFORD Nordstrom’s!”
she replies, “i’m showing three declines and a purchase.”
i ask for details. attempt to purchase $750, declined. attempt to purchase $675, declined. attempt to purchase $500, declined. attempt to purchase $375, approved.
it doesn’t end there. apparently, they hit every 7-11 and debit machine in a small radius trying to find a machine that would take the card as credit rather than debit.
the lady tells me that this triggered their atm fraud protection and they had already put a stop on the card (at roughly 1pm).
just then, my phone (cell) rings. it’s the bank of america atm fraud analyst (though i didn’t know it at the time as it went to voicemail before i could get it).
the lady on the phone assures me that i am protected and tells me that i’ll need to come to the bank and provide identity information and file the claim. then, tomorrow, after all pending charges have been processed, call them back and we’ll walk through them all, identifying the ones that are fraudulent.
they will refund me all purchases and credit all fees…. within three weeks.
ugh.
and on top of it all, i have to wait another 5 – 7 days for yet another card so life can get back to normal.
but here’s the kicker… i’m pretty sure i know who did this.
the woman at the thrift store who waited on me saturday.
she is the only one who had my card in her hand for longer than the swipe, and the thrift store is staffed by recovering and economically challenged people who are being given a second chance.
the only other place i’ve used it where a human being had access to it was the place i bought my tires and frankly, men who work in tire shops don’t shop at nordstrom’s.
i suppose you would think i would be angry. but i’m not. rather, i’m sad. i had a very nice conversation with that woman. she was funny. her eyes held the spark of intellect. she was in no way someone who needed to resort to such things.
i felt sad because here is someone who, apparently, needed to take what did not belong to her to feel better about herself.
i felt sad because there are so few places left in our culture where someone who has been truly mistreated or deprived can receive a ‘fair shake’ and the chance to start anew.
i felt sad because i would have happily given her money or even bought her anything she wanted at the thrift store if she’d only asked. in fact, when she admired the woven picnic basket i had found, i made a point of bringing her the only other one there so she could have one as well.
i remember she thanked me for it. or perhaps it was the spree at nordstrom’s she was thanking me for and i simply didn’t know it yet.
but even now, i’m not angry. just sad. i find it true that, in most cases, our own behaviors and angers keep us in the cages in this life. most of all, i am sad because the laughter we shared wasn’t enough to help her avoid feeling like what she’s done wasn’t necessary.
a long day and not an entirely happy one. it will all work out, of course… for me, anyway. but i’ve learned from here on out to shop with cash at the thrift stores…. and that necessity also makes me sigh.