Thursday, January 17, 2008

 

Pills - anti-sickness, anti-depressant, anti-stupidity?

I’ve been tagged by Cliff to reveal what I've consumed media wise, which is nice, but because I’ll feel a fraud if I write only about the sensible things I’ve done and also because I’m a compulsive confessor of my weaknesses and mistakes, I feel I should mention first the incredibly stupid thing that I’ve also done.

How do you deal with the cringing embarrassment of doing something really, really stupid? An immediate and total sense of humour failure, followed by a good dose of self-flagellation is a pretty standard way for me and yesterday I excelled myself.

We’re in France at the moment and I was out shopping and looking for a cash machine. One miraculously appeared, so I popped in my card. Sadly, there was to be no satisfying little drum role before the machine released my money. Nothing happened and panicking, I stabbed repeatedly at the cancel button, but my card had been eaten. This, it turned out, was not surprising since I had not put my card into a cash machine at all. I had been bewitched by desire and in my head it had simply morphed into what I wanted it to be.

My loved one said nothing, although it would have been easier to bear if he’d shouted that I was a silly cow. At least then I could have taken on the martyrdom of the oppressed and reminded him of the unhelpfulness of name calling.

While I guarded the machine, he went in search of help. It came in the shape of a very grumpy man, impervious to my apologies, who opened the machine, declared that he couldn’t find the card and with a Gallic shrug, closed it back up and abandoned us.

While I remounted guard, my loved one went to a nearby chemist and bought tweezers. These are not the implement of choice for removing credit cards from narrow openings and it was while I was poking around with them that it occurred to me how dumb I would sound if the police suddenly wanted to know what was going on:

Them: So, tell me again why you put your credit card in a parking ticket machine.

Me: I needed some cash

Them: But wasn’t this machine painted the same bright yellow as all the other parking ticket machines?

Me: Well, yes, but…

Them: But did it have the same display of debit and credit cards that cash machines have?

Me: Well, no, but …

Them: So, in what way exactly did it resemble a cash machine?

Me: Um …it had an inviting, credit card shaped slot.


Fortunately, when I rang the bank to cancel the card they weren’t interested in how I’d lost it.

Now there's no time left for the tagging post, so I'll do that next time.

Comments:
Don't feel bad, Moll- I have done this very same exact thing, right down to the parking lot machine.
Except I was in Downtown Dallas, it was dark, and I was being followed by three or four less-than-desirables.
Glad you didn't have to deal with THAT! ;)
 
Well Downtown Dallas, dark and 3 or 4 less-than-desirables is a pretty good excuse. I had none of that, but thanks for trying Ed.
 
I sympathise, but I'm also comforted by the fact that I'm not the only one who does stupid things.

Satisfying little drum roll, bewitched by desire... just lovely.
 
Thanks Wendy and glad to be some comfort - it's an ill wind and all that!
 
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