To Card, or Not to Card? That is the Question...

Here’s a fun little conundrum: Last week, I was chatting away and having a very pleasant conversation with a customer and her young son as I was ringing up their purchase. As I was extolling the virtues of one of the books this lady was purchasing, she snaps at me (interrupting me in mid-sentence, as a matter of fact), “You know, for a hundred twenty dollars, you should really be checking ID!” and shoved the back of her credit card under my nose, so that I could plainly view the signature plate where “ASK 4 ID” was somewhat illegibly scrawled. So much for the pleasant conversation we were having. Her tone was so nasty that her kid noticed how heinous his mother was being and called her out: “Mom, you don’t have to be so mean about it!” Yeah! Ok, I actually refrained from adding my own editorial comments about her behavior. I’m pretty sure my once cheerful customer now blamed me for her son’s insolent outburst, so that didn’t exactly improve her mood. I made a feeble apology, and she stalked away to her huff parked outside with her kid in tow. To the customer’s credit, if she had been nice, politely pointed out her lack of signature, and asked that I take more care in the future, I probably would forgotten all about it and not learned my lesson. As a result of her sneak-attack bitchiness, though, I’ve been vigilant about checking ID ever since.

A couple of nights ago, I’m in a similar situation where I’m talking with a different customer as I’m ringing up her purchase. She hands me her credit card, and since I have transformed into the Signature Nazi, I notice that it’s unsigned. I politely ask to see her ID, but judging by her reaction, I could have been asking to see her voter registration, social security card, and a list of any known aliases. I get a sigh and a big roll of the eyes before the ID is produced, and then she mutters, “You know, it’s not like I’m going to bother stealing thirty bucks of merchandise.” She then snatches up her books and stalks out of the store. Coincidentally, she also had a huff parked outside!

Apparently, I can’t win. I get yelled at for not checking ID and guilt-tripped when I do. As far as I know, there’s no rule that says that if the purchase is under a certain amount, it’s ok for the credit card to not have a signature. My McJob certainly doesn’t pay enough for me to think on my own. Either way, I’m sure it’s my fault.