Carrying too much of your identity along
Since it’s quiet where you are, and you have a few minutes to take care of things that otherwise might not get done, might I suggest taking out your wallet. No, I don’t need anything from you; this is more a wakeup call. If you lost your wallet tomorrow, would there be enough data inside for someone else to cause you great financial worry, or perhaps a small crisis in your identity? Are you sure.
Last evening, son #1 had a pocket malfunction. Somewhere between here and there, his wallet went off for adventures of an unforeseen kind, aided by a passerby. Nothing as exotic as a pickpocket or mugging, simply an act of gravity. By the time he’d noticed (less than 30 minutes), an entreprenurial person had already spent several hundred dollars of the money my son has yet to earn.
The financial institutions have been extremely helpful. He had a list of the various visits to gas bars and video shops in the area made by the miscreant, within minutes. This morning we set off to see exactly what happens when a credit card is used. First of all, the average clerk is so busy that a card is just as transparent as cash; no verification of the name or the signature were made, anywhere. To add insult to injury, the card was used in the gas bar where son #1 will earn the money; the girl on duty did not clue in to it having his name, because nobody ever checks the details. In another, the signature on the credit slip wasn’t even the one on the card. Forget that security detail.
The video cameras that are always on duty did capture images, and my son has copies of those. The police don’t have time for petty crime, so unless he sees the new alter-ego and happens to get his attention, this is nothing more than a cathartic moment. White baseball caps and blue t-shirts aren’t exactly rare. The quality of the image is sufficient to allow recognition, but only if you’ve already met the person, if you get my drift.
The police will take an official report sometime next week. Meanwhile, my son fervently hopes that the cards are residing in a wet storm drain somewhere, rather than in the hands of someone with more inventive tendencies.
So, as you check your wallet, do you really need your social insurance number (no) or your birth certificate (no, no) or every piece of “plastic” ever issued with your name on it (no, no, no). Time to pare down the amount of your personal history someone else would obtain, if ever you have a gravity incident. Keep It Simple, Simon.
