This afternoon, I was invited to a birthday scavenger hunt at the last minute; I could blame FaceBook but I won’t because I despise it. Anyway, as I was rushing along the newer north end of the Domain, I found an odd object in the middle of the sidewalk. It had a Gucci label and when I poked through it, I found this dude’s two credit and one debit cards. What made this scarier, he foolishly left his driver’s license with them. Ouch!
Now a crappier human being (namely a disciple of Ayn Rand) would go to town. Little could stop the perp, everything you need to rack up major purchases are right there and not every business is exactly scrupulous. Online would be the stronger route is my guess since there’s a lack of direct human interaction too.
I did the right thing obviously. I first called one card issuers number, Chase. They were cool. They suspended the account and would notify the holder what happened. The other, which rhymes with Schmapitol Fun, entailed a call center in India with a representative whose grasp of English was poor. They cancelled the card and wouldn’t tell the holder. Wow! They really suck. One thing I will give the representative credit on was suggesting I call the police due to the driver’s license. I buzzed 311 (non-emergency stuff) and to wrap this up, made arrangements to get this guy’s little wallet to mall security who in turn would give it to Austin PD. Eventually, he will get everything back because Austin police are pretty trustworthy. If I were in Milwaukee, Houston or Chicago, I would’ve said, pass, I’ll wait for the actual person.
The point of this story? Several. There are still good people in America, not just me, but handful of others involved in the process. The other, if you have a card with the second bank, get rid of it. They’re terrible on so many levels. After they allowed identity thieves to open a credit card under Somara’s name a decade ago, their slogan should be, “What’s in your wallet? Obviously not a valid ID when we issue these things!” Lastly, while I joke about blaming this on my Catholic school background, I would’ve done the right thing regardless thanks to my parents, education and my own moral compass, proving that Atheists do “the right thing” sans sky cake.