I had an issue with my debit card today, causing the bank to call me and suggest that I authorize them to cancel it and send me a new card. I of course agreed. But I stopped in at my bank to check on the bona fides of the caller, just to be safe. I'm not sure I feel safer, but I was reassured.
The teller at the local branch asked me to type in my social security number, and then, with a few keystrokes, proceeded to recount my activities from yesterday--from grocery shopping to the pharmacy, to Target--even to my parking meter in Arlington. Who knew that my debit card carried so much information? No wonder the first thing Gibbs does on NCIS is tell McGee to get phone and credit card information. It is a virtual diary--one that we are unaware that we are recording. Even I tend to forget where I've been in the course of a day, but my debit card is my own personal Boswell, faithfully following and recording my progress. I can only imagine the commentary of someone watching my activities. "Hmm..Safeway again? Didn't she just go there?" "A PARKING METER?? Does she not have a quarter?" Well, no I didn't at the time, and I truly regretted pulling out a debit card to spend a dollar so I could have lunch without fear of a ticket on my windshield. Had I covered dinner as well, the observer would have seen Taqueria Poblano, followed by The Dairy Godmother. All it would have lacked was the information on the flavor of the day (salt caramel, thank you very much.)
