memory
I was a troubled man. Here I was, wanting to be liked and the ATM didn’t like me – in fact, it rejected me outright. For some reason it said that the personal ID number I had put in was incorrect. Since this was a drive-up ATM and others were behind me, I pulled over into the parking lot to weigh my options. What were the facts? I just knew that I had put in the same PIN as always so I couldn’t be getting old and senile . . . well, old but hopefully not the other. Then it dawned on me, our cards had expired and we had recently gotten new ones, so it had to be some mess up by the credit union.
My travels of the day took me near one of the main branches of the credit union, so I dropped in to check on this problem. After a bit of wait, I got to see a person and of all things, she actually suggested that since I had not used the card in over a month, I might have forgotten and put in the wrong number. We went outside and tried that ATM and it didn’t work either. Their policy is that they cannot give out the PIN, but will apply to have a reminder of it sent to me in the mail.
The certainty of the accuracy of my memory was starting to crack a bit as I agonized over this dilemma. Maybe it was my imagination but it seemed that she had a bit of a smirk on her face as she filled out this form for my PIN to be sent to me. It was almost like this had happened before with other people and I was just another in the sea of faces that forgot their PIN. Debased though I was, I got the cash I needed from a teller and slunk out of the place as inconspicuously as I could.
My next stop had to be better and I knew it would be because it was at Lowe’s and this is one of the few places in the world in which I actually enjoy shopping. In spite of the joy of shopping at this wondrous place, today would be just a hunting trip because I knew exactly what I wanted. My main goal was to purchase a cordless drill, this in spite of the fact that I already had one – the new one would serve a slightly different purpose, plus it had two batteries that would fit my old drill as well.
This drill was found on display, but the box for the new one was larger than I expected and the number was one digit off. The sales person checked it out and indicated that it was the right price and must have been a special purchase because a battery-powered fluorescent light was also included in the box. Elation was what I felt, it was like Christmas and the 4th of July wrapped up together. Barely containing the joyous tool-man within, I picked up some roof repair compound to repair a small leak around one of my roof vents and some few tomato plants to fill out my row in the garden and headed to the checkout.
It was after I was already in the truck with my purchases and about to drive off when I thought of the 10 dollar off card in my shirt pocket – forgotten because of the excitement and elation. I took my receipt back to the clerk and she set about refunding the old amount and refiguring the new amount minus the discount card, fortunately nobody else was in line at first. Then they started stacking up behind me and my active imagination started feeling the glares of the ones having to wait. This time I walked away only slightly slinking because at least I had gotten results in the present tense.
Back home later the rest of the ATM story came out. After the Spice and I looked around a while, she happened upon both our PIN numbers and it turned out that I’m actually human after all and my forgetter was working against me by being one digit off with my card number. Human or not, I know that God loves me and always will. ec
My travels of the day took me near one of the main branches of the credit union, so I dropped in to check on this problem. After a bit of wait, I got to see a person and of all things, she actually suggested that since I had not used the card in over a month, I might have forgotten and put in the wrong number. We went outside and tried that ATM and it didn’t work either. Their policy is that they cannot give out the PIN, but will apply to have a reminder of it sent to me in the mail.
The certainty of the accuracy of my memory was starting to crack a bit as I agonized over this dilemma. Maybe it was my imagination but it seemed that she had a bit of a smirk on her face as she filled out this form for my PIN to be sent to me. It was almost like this had happened before with other people and I was just another in the sea of faces that forgot their PIN. Debased though I was, I got the cash I needed from a teller and slunk out of the place as inconspicuously as I could.
My next stop had to be better and I knew it would be because it was at Lowe’s and this is one of the few places in the world in which I actually enjoy shopping. In spite of the joy of shopping at this wondrous place, today would be just a hunting trip because I knew exactly what I wanted. My main goal was to purchase a cordless drill, this in spite of the fact that I already had one – the new one would serve a slightly different purpose, plus it had two batteries that would fit my old drill as well.
This drill was found on display, but the box for the new one was larger than I expected and the number was one digit off. The sales person checked it out and indicated that it was the right price and must have been a special purchase because a battery-powered fluorescent light was also included in the box. Elation was what I felt, it was like Christmas and the 4th of July wrapped up together. Barely containing the joyous tool-man within, I picked up some roof repair compound to repair a small leak around one of my roof vents and some few tomato plants to fill out my row in the garden and headed to the checkout.
It was after I was already in the truck with my purchases and about to drive off when I thought of the 10 dollar off card in my shirt pocket – forgotten because of the excitement and elation. I took my receipt back to the clerk and she set about refunding the old amount and refiguring the new amount minus the discount card, fortunately nobody else was in line at first. Then they started stacking up behind me and my active imagination started feeling the glares of the ones having to wait. This time I walked away only slightly slinking because at least I had gotten results in the present tense.
Back home later the rest of the ATM story came out. After the Spice and I looked around a while, she happened upon both our PIN numbers and it turned out that I’m actually human after all and my forgetter was working against me by being one digit off with my card number. Human or not, I know that God loves me and always will. ec
posted by mreddie | 10:19 PM
4 Comments:
How odd?! I never forget anything, Bill.
AC - If my rememberer worked as good as my forgetter, I'd be in great shape - since it don't, I'm just in the shape I'm in. Besides that, I feel more like I do now than I did just a short while ago - I think. ec
I hate the feeling when I walk out of the grocery store, get in the car and find the coupons I was suppose to use still in my wallet! But I am also so glad the Lord still loves us even when our brains "hiccup" every once in a while. :)
Annie - Our children's pastor used to call these mental things a "brain burp" - very similar to your hiccup of the brain. :) ec
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