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follow Terry onI started my day this morning with a traffic jam on my way to work, my first one in a long while. Luckily, as a result of good advice from my blogging friends, I started to take deep breaths (after I turned off the radio) and I quickly relaxed, slowly making my way into the office. Unfortunately, my calm didn’t last too long, because my first message on my answering machine when I got to my desk was one from my credit card company – “please call us right away about possible fraud on your account“. Uh oh.
Usually that means a review of new transactions and a “yes or no” from me. Simple, right? Not this time – the message was “unfortunately your credit card number has been compromised and we’ll need to cancel it and issue you a new one“. Ah yes, a current foible of our digital world – virtual hacking of vendor databases. It was like something precious being taken away – those 16 little numbers that we’ve memorized and used for almost every financial transaction for the last 5 years. I have no other credit cards, having weaned them all down years ago (I never pay finance charges – and I’m quite militant about it).
“Do you really have to do this?” I asked. “Can’t I just use it for a few more days to give me time to transition all my auto-pays“? Nope, it had to be done NOW. The credit card company had to protect itself (since, after all, they are responsible for fraudulent transactions). At that very second, those 16 numbers disappeared. So for 24 hours I needed to go without credit, until they Fed-Exed me new cards and a new set of 16 numbers . And I suddenly felt helpless and upset. I’d gotten so used to rarely using cash that this actually was traumatic.
I then attempted to contact my wife, so she wouldn’t suffer the indignity of having her card rejected. She was engaged in an issue of her own, however. Her new car was being serviced so at the time I was trying to reach her she was picking it up from the shop, only to find that the service people had scratched one of the doors. It set up an interesting dynamic when the two of us finally spoke – we both had issues that were causing us a little stress.
Oddly enough, we ended up quickly settling down- it was almost like both of these “bad” things canceled each other out. It was “instant empathy”. Of course, in hindsight I question why I reacted so poorly to losing the 16 numbers – they were just that, numbers, and by tomorrow afternoon all will be returned to normal. These temporary states of what I call “yuppie agnst” still perplex me sometimes.
Yes, it’s been “one of those days”, but in the end I’ve learned another lesson about the importance of perspective and the restorative powers of empathy. And that ain’t bad!
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
You really are a half-full sort of guy Terry. Thanks for reminding us all that numbers are just that…numbers. Empathy RULES!
Try sharing a good quality bottle of Red wine with your wife Terry – that will bring down the stress levels my friend
I empathise with your feelings!
It took me about six months to re-learn my sixteen numbers when i got a new credit card! every time i was on the phone with a mail-order anything, I’d make the customer service rep sit and listen to me try to do it off the top of my head. i’d tell her that i was trying to memorize my numbers. almost always, i got it wrong. now, i can do it. you’ll get there. we’re all cheering for you! (tell your wife that my dog will happily scratch her car doors to shreds when she jumps up to greet her as she pulls in my driveway. it’ll cover up the other scratch in NO time!)
Thanks for the comments!
Phil, if I’m half-full, you must be at least three-quarters!
Trevor, welcome back from your holiday (hope it was wonderful), and since my wife and I don’t drink, we do share a nice San Pellegrino after days like these that seems to have the same effect.
Christine, once again you and my wife are a lot alike – she had memorized the 16 numbers too! I never managed that in 5 years. I bet she’ll master this new one in no time. I look forward to having our car meet your dog – sounds like that will work better than a body shop!
I figure that’s why they give you the little plastic thingy to keep in your wallet – so you don’t have to remember all those numbers.
I guess I approach it from the perspective that “if I know where it’s written down then I don’t have to memorize it.”
There are too many other things that don’t get written down that are more important for me to remember (like the names of people I just met, for example – which I don’t have mastered yet) for me to cram my head full of stuff that is already “remembered” for me.
But I totally feel for you losing the “life” line like that. We put as much through our credit card as possible to get those frequent flyer miles. And we’re just as militant about not paying finance charges too!
Hi Chris – ah yes, the plastic thingy. Knowing where you wrote it down only works when you remember where you wrote it down, unfortunately. I’m just as bad with names when I meet people. The good news is that I got my new cards today and have successfully transferred everything. Yipee! All the best Chris.
In my case I keep my wallet in arms reach most all the time so it’s easy to find. If my butt ever gets further away than I can reach, then I’ll go ahead and start memorizing credit card numbers!