Identity theft is not a joke, Jim...millions of families suffer every year.

So bear with me on this one.

On Thursday, Jessica and I went to Southern Star for lunch. It was quite yummy, I must say. After we paid the tab, Jess wanted to stop by Warehouse Row to look for a necklace because she forgot to put one on that morning. We shop, she finds a necklace (along with a few other items) and goes to the counter to purchase them. She slides her card and types in her pin number....the guy says to try again because it didn't like the pin number for whatever reason. She tries again and once again, the machine doesn't like the pin number. The guy says, "Well, why don't you just run it as credit because it's a good card...it just doesn't like the pin number." She says ok, and we finish up.

We go back to work & finish the day out. I go for a run after work, then head over to Hobby Lobby. I go to the counter to purchase a few things & give the girl my debit card. She asks to see my ID because I don't sign my card & I show it to her. She looks at it, says thanks and I wait for the receipt. She hands it to me, I start to sign when I see Jess's name under the signature line. What? I look at the card and it's Jess's! It had gotten switched at lunch apparently. Now, please don't think we're ditzy blondes...we both belong to the credit union at work, so we have the exact same card...and this has actually happened a couple of times at Southern Star before. So, anyway, I say to the girl, "Oh! This is my friend's card...they must have gotten switched at lunch. Can you rerun it with my credit card so I don't charge to her account?" She looks at me and very reluctantly (and with a huffy sigh) grabs the phone to ask for a manager to come to line whatever. I say, "If it's going to be a lot of trouble, and you don't mind, we can just run it on her card and then I'll pay her back tomorrow." She says ok and I sign Jess's name.

What? How can this happen in today's society? Not only did retailers allow both of us to use the other's card, but both made it even easier for us to do so...the guy at Bass told Jess to run her debit as credit to solve the wrong pin number problem. The girl at Hobby Lobby actually asked for my ID and saw that it was a completely different name, but still allowed the transaction...and then was irritated that she would have to correct the situation, so then allowed me to use a card that I freely admitted wasn't mine. Insane!

So, we all learned a lesson here guys...consider yourself all educated in the ways of stealing someone's debit card!