Zoom-boing
Platinum Member
So college kid calls up Tuesday night in tears. My first thought is always car accident but no, it's not that. The students have id cards that are their key to gain access to all the buildings and also double as their meal cards. The money is already on the card (biggest ripoff, but I digress) and all they have to do is swipe their cards at mealtime. She keeps her swipe card, a coupon or two and her dorm key in a Vera Wang - or is it Bradley?- little zipper 'coin purse' with a lanyard attached. There's nothing else in it and she takes it everywhere.
She had a meeting Tues. night so intead of eating at the cafeteria she got a sandwich and drink to go, took it to the classroom where the meeting was to be held and ate before anything started. (You see where this is going, right?) So the meeting takes place, blah, blah, blah and when it's done she gathers up her trash, puts it in the plastic bag she carried it in and yup, tossed her little coin purse into the trash. Which wouldn't have been that big a deal IF she had realized it right away. Unfortunately it wasn't until about 4 hours later when she realized what she must have done, she went back to the classroom, all the trash cans had been emptied. She calls in tears, what to do. Dumpster diving is a possibility and a course I would have taken but . . . . she is not me. It was also dark (hey, that's what flashlights are for). $25 for the swipe/id card; $50 for the key replacement (they have to replace the door knob and furnish two keys, one for her one for her room mate).
So her friend Kyle knows this kid who works in the id card department at school and says he can get her the card for free but the kid only works Tues/Thurs 1-6pm. Ok, she will wait until Thursday to see if maybe she can save $25. Wed she has a fitness class in the gym. The gym is the ONLY building on campus where, instead of just swiping your card then going into the building and to your class, you have to show your id card to the security guard and he swipes it again. So she can't just walk in with someone and go to class she has to have a card. She didn't blow off class because she already missed one class and figures ok, just buy the damn card. Which she does. Goes to the class and . . . . no teacher. At all. She waits with one other student for 15 minutes, nothing. She checks her email, no note from teacher saying class is canceled. She checks the classroom to see if a note is left by the teacher, nope. This sucks, she bought the card only for this class instead of waiting to see if she could get a free card on Thursday and the class doesn't even happen. Oh well, things happen for a reason I guess. Right? Wait.
. . . . and #2
So, Thursday night they go to the cafeteria for dinner. All is well she has her swipe card. She never got time to even get to the book store to buy a replacement purse/lanyard/clip or whatever. She carries her regular purse with her everywhere with her regular wallet inside so she's just keeping the swipe card in there for the time being. She hasn't gotten the replacement key yet. Apparently no one locks their dorms at all - yes, I told her this was stupid - but no one has ever had anything stolen. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It only takes ONE time . . . anyway, they all get dinner. But old habits die hard and instead of putting the damn swipe card into her wallet then the wallet into her purse, she put the damn swipe card on the tray. (You see where this is going, right?) Last night at 8:50pm we get the call . . . I swear I thought her head would burst she was so angry at herself and pissed off at it all. The swipe card got tossed when it was on the tray. She had it for a little over 24 hours. The only thing we could think of was to bum meals off of her friend's cards till Tuesday (paying them back by buying their meals once she got a card) and see if she can get the free card on Tuesday (that wasn't even a definite but just a possibility). She called today when I was out. Talked to her dad, she ended up buying another swipe card because she has too many projects/commitments in too many places and has no way to enter any building w/out a card. She could hope someone would walk by and let her in but . . . . . the campus empties out on the weekends as lots of kids go home.
So the lesson that she hopefully learned - always put it back where it belongs - took two lost cards, one lost key and $100. Cripes.
She had a meeting Tues. night so intead of eating at the cafeteria she got a sandwich and drink to go, took it to the classroom where the meeting was to be held and ate before anything started. (You see where this is going, right?) So the meeting takes place, blah, blah, blah and when it's done she gathers up her trash, puts it in the plastic bag she carried it in and yup, tossed her little coin purse into the trash. Which wouldn't have been that big a deal IF she had realized it right away. Unfortunately it wasn't until about 4 hours later when she realized what she must have done, she went back to the classroom, all the trash cans had been emptied. She calls in tears, what to do. Dumpster diving is a possibility and a course I would have taken but . . . . she is not me. It was also dark (hey, that's what flashlights are for). $25 for the swipe/id card; $50 for the key replacement (they have to replace the door knob and furnish two keys, one for her one for her room mate).
So her friend Kyle knows this kid who works in the id card department at school and says he can get her the card for free but the kid only works Tues/Thurs 1-6pm. Ok, she will wait until Thursday to see if maybe she can save $25. Wed she has a fitness class in the gym. The gym is the ONLY building on campus where, instead of just swiping your card then going into the building and to your class, you have to show your id card to the security guard and he swipes it again. So she can't just walk in with someone and go to class she has to have a card. She didn't blow off class because she already missed one class and figures ok, just buy the damn card. Which she does. Goes to the class and . . . . no teacher. At all. She waits with one other student for 15 minutes, nothing. She checks her email, no note from teacher saying class is canceled. She checks the classroom to see if a note is left by the teacher, nope. This sucks, she bought the card only for this class instead of waiting to see if she could get a free card on Thursday and the class doesn't even happen. Oh well, things happen for a reason I guess. Right? Wait.
. . . . and #2
So, Thursday night they go to the cafeteria for dinner. All is well she has her swipe card. She never got time to even get to the book store to buy a replacement purse/lanyard/clip or whatever. She carries her regular purse with her everywhere with her regular wallet inside so she's just keeping the swipe card in there for the time being. She hasn't gotten the replacement key yet. Apparently no one locks their dorms at all - yes, I told her this was stupid - but no one has ever had anything stolen. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It only takes ONE time . . . anyway, they all get dinner. But old habits die hard and instead of putting the damn swipe card into her wallet then the wallet into her purse, she put the damn swipe card on the tray. (You see where this is going, right?) Last night at 8:50pm we get the call . . . I swear I thought her head would burst she was so angry at herself and pissed off at it all. The swipe card got tossed when it was on the tray. She had it for a little over 24 hours. The only thing we could think of was to bum meals off of her friend's cards till Tuesday (paying them back by buying their meals once she got a card) and see if she can get the free card on Tuesday (that wasn't even a definite but just a possibility). She called today when I was out. Talked to her dad, she ended up buying another swipe card because she has too many projects/commitments in too many places and has no way to enter any building w/out a card. She could hope someone would walk by and let her in but . . . . . the campus empties out on the weekends as lots of kids go home.
So the lesson that she hopefully learned - always put it back where it belongs - took two lost cards, one lost key and $100. Cripes.
