News, EnglishNovember 8, 2008 3:30 pm

SCENE 1. 
This is a new one. 
 

People sure stay busy trying to cheat us, don’t they? 

A friend went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the locker.
After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, ‘Funny, I thought I locked the locker.   

Hmm,  ’He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order. 

Everything looked okay - all cards were in place.

A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whooping bill of $14,000! 

He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying that he did not make the transactions. 

Customer care personnel verified that there was no Mistake in the system
and asked if his card had been stolen. 
 

‘No,’ he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card, and yep - you guessed it - a switch had been made.   

An expired similar credit card from the same bank was in the wallet. 

The thief broke into his locker at the gym and switched cards. 

Verdict: The credit card issuer said since he did not report the card missing earlier, he would have to pay the amount owed to them. 

How much did he have to pay for items he did not buy?

$9,000! Why were there no calls made to verify the amount swiped? 

Small amounts rarely trigger a ‘warning bell’ with some credit card companies. 

It just so happens that all the small amounts added up to big one! 


SCENE 2.
 

A man at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his credit card. 

The bill for the meal came, he signed it,and the waitress folded the receipt 
and passed the credit card along. 

Usually, he would just take it and place it in his wallet or pocket.  Funny enough, though, he actually took a look at the card and, lo and 
behold, it was the expired card of another person.
 

He called the waitress and she looked perplexed. 

She took it back, apologized, and hurried back to the counter under the watchful eye of the man. 

All the waitress did while walking to the counter was wave the wrong expired card to the counter cashier, and the counter cashier immediately looked down and took out the real card. 

No exchange of words — nothing! She took it and came back to the man with an apology. 

Verdict:

Make sure the credit cards in your wallet are yours. 

Check the name on the card every time you sign for something and/or the card is taken away for even a short period of time. 

Many people just take back the credit card without even looking at it, ‘assuming’ that it has to be theirs. 

FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR CREDIT CARD EACH TIME IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION! 

SCENE 3: 

Yesterday I went into a pizza restaurant to pick up an order that I had called in. 

I paid by using my Visa Check Card which, of course, is linked directly   
to my checking account. 

The young man behind the counter took my card, swiped it, then laid it on
the counter as he waited for the approval, which is pretty standard procedure.
 

While he waited, he picked up his cell phone and started dialing. 

I noticed the phone because it is the same model I have, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  Then I heard a click that sounded like my phone sounds when I take a 
picture.

He then gave me back my card but kept the phone in his hand as if he was still pressing buttons. 

Meanwhile, I’m thinking: I wonder what he is taking a picture of, oblivious to what was really going on. 

It then dawned on me: the only thing there was my credit card, so now I’m paying close attention to what he is doing. 

He set his phone on the counter, leaving it open.

About five seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the picture has been saved.

Now I’m standing there struggling with the fact that this boy just took a picture of my credit card. 

Yes, he played it off well, because had we not had the same kind of phone, I probably would never have known what happened.

Needless to say, I immediately canceled that card as I was walking out of the pizza parlor. 

All I am saying is, be aware of your surroundings at all times.

Whenever you are using your credit card take caution and don’t be
careless.
 

Notice who is standing near you and what they are doing when you use your card. 

Be aware of  phones, because many have a camera phone these days.

心灵汤水 1:31 am

《錢不是萬能的,但是沒有錢卻是萬萬不能。》《有錢可使鬼推磨。》

這些都説明了錢的重要性,而且這些也是所有人都不可以不承認的事實。錢對我而言,一點也不重要但是有很重要。哈哈…非常矛盾的一句話。爲什麽說錢對我來說不重要呢?因爲我並不需要有很多很多的錢,因爲我可以很容易就滿足,當然有更好的我當然不會拒絕,但是沒有的話擁有普普通通的就可以了。可能你會說,如果這樣你可以把多餘的給我。哈哈…這並不可能,因爲就算我有多餘的都是留給我的家人,我愛的人的。也是因爲這樣,錢對我來說是那麽的重要。錢對我來說重要是因爲它可以讓我的家人,我愛的人快樂、幸福、不需要挨苦。

話説回頭,我還算是一個很會存錢的人。但是,往往在我開始存到一點錢時就會有事情發生,而我就被逼用那筆錢,而這樣也就使我存不到錢。但是,我並不覺得可惜,因爲這樣是值得的。就比如説,我的媽媽突然要去中國,我存的錢就給了她,好讓她可以有一個愉快地旅程。雖然我給的錢並不多,只不過是我一個月的薪水… :P 更何況她去中國是有目的的,是要毉她那雙眼睛。媽媽老了,身體也漸漸差了起來。想想以前小的時候,媽媽是如何的辛苦養大自己,現在是時候回報她了。接下來,還有3個月的時間,我要在這三個月的時間裏努力賺錢,因爲還有更大的考驗(需要更多錢)即將來臨。希望我可以如期找到我需要的錢。