Picking A Fight Before Brunch

Ahhh, protest day again. Whole lot of honks for peace, which we chose to believe came from the impeachment hearings. Got a couple thumbs down, and, separately, several passing folks yelling Trump's name. Never sure whether the latter were for or against him. Or why they connected his name with a protest to stop wars.

But none of that was directly tied to my picking a fight. What did connect was my plan to make a tiny detour - across the street in the other direction - before heading to brunch with the group, in order to cash another check from a modest jewelry sale. The club has changed the bank to Wells Fargo. I wished the whole $20 in cash.

I guess I was also in a mood to test some limits with my 2nd least favorite bank. (U S Bank is #1 least favorite. After all this time, I forget exactly why.) This would be my third check to cash with them, or at least attempt. One already failed. I'd endorsed it to Steve who actually has an account with them. They wouldn't take it unless I wanted to open an account with them.

Screw that!

2nd time I went through their rigamarole and got my cash. But I got my back up a bit before this try. It's all about what they will and won't accept as a 2nd form of ID. They already get my state ID, in my case an enhanced driver's license. They thought my 2nd ID should be a credit or cash card.

Hmmmmm. First, Wells Fargo gets hacked. Sounds like a great chance for identity theft, and with my not being one of their customers, I'd never know. So what are my alternatives? I decided to check.

My photo ID for the community centers, address matching the DL, was a no-go. So, how about another card that's pretty hard to get without plenty of backup info, especially in Arizona - my voter ID? Again, info matches, no picture. No go. I was no way near out of options here. AARP? National Parks seniors free entry? Uh-uh. Three different insurance cards, of the health variety? Nope. My pacemaker card? Not only did all the names match, and addresses when printed on the card, but the last even matched my medic alert bracelet. I mean, how far would an identity thief go to pose as me?

Nope, but they'd happily take one of my $$$ cards. I reminded them they also got  my thumb print before I got my $20, but they were unpersuaded. But hey, if I wanted to open an account....

Asked and answered. "NO!"

No.

No.

No.

They didn't offer any protest when I said I wasn't willing to hand over my credit card because they get hacked and I was, rather than being protected from identity theft, be opening myself up to it. They didn't care how difficult a state voter ID was to get, or that my picture and address on the community center card all matched, or how many other ways I could demonstrate I was obviously me. It didn't matter that they were the bank this check was drawn on. What the required, they finally told me, was some kind of ID with an expiration date!!!

Seriously? All of those expire at some point. Stop paying premiums or memberships, or die, that'll do it. Of course, none of those are predictable, and you'd think the fact that I'm still paying my part of all of those might attest more to my honesty and solvency than otherwise. Oh, my AARP card does have an expiration date, but they already rejected that one, because... just because.

I suggested they could take a hike and walked out. I was good, promise. No yelling. No swearing. I even told them I wasn't going to tell them to go screw themselves, and as I already stated, I didn't.

But now I've tested their limits.

And they've tested mine.

And Wells Fargo, SCREW YOU!

FYI, brunch was great.