The ‘saloon,’ Susan hastily pointed out, was the comedy club that hosted our recent benefit for Burundi, Africa and the $56.50 was the price paid for food and beverage during the event. However, the ‘reviewers’ decided this was terribly out of character and she must have run right off the tracks and started knocking back whiskey at an alarming rate! I say, as she is an educator trying to help underprivileged children amid slashings in funding, if anyone is deserving of a lot of recent elbow bending, it’s Susan, but she was doing no more than helping to support a marvelous cause a few weeks ago with a few over-priced chicken finger baskets.
Now, we’ve all heard of ‘Big Brother’ but, frankly, this sort of interference can only come from an annoying “Little Brother,” delving into our lives and stirring up trouble. Who are these ‘reviewers,’ anyway? The Amish?
The next victim was Susan’s sister, Sharon, the same week, when her card was denied for a purchase of $101 at a car wash. A call to the card company was prompt with her explaining that she was attempting to purchase $60 in gas and $41 for a detailed cleaning job of her SUV.
“Oh,” exclaimed the woman on the other side of the phone. “We would have never stopped your card for the gas- that’s your number one expense. But at a carwash?”
“So,” said Sharon, as she relayed the story. “I think my profile must say I’m basically unclean!”
She went on to add, “The scariest part is how much they know about us!”
Or little, in this case.
I tend to be a cash-only gal, and after hearing these stories, that’s probably a good thing. Mostly because my weekly spending schedule is as follows: feed store, grocery store, feed store. And once in a mad while I have to buy an outlandish gown for some kind of high-profile event. Boy, if I were using a card, wouldn’t that trip the alarm bells at Visa! They’d assume either a thief had pilfered their bit of plastic or I had neglected to take my meds and was on a manic shopping spree. I doubt even making a phone call would change their mind. Once a hick, they probably think, always a hick.
But even Ellie Mae Clampett had to get away from her critters every once in awhile…