Saturday, September 29, 2012

from coins and notes to a card

Saturday, September 29, 2012

This is for the ones who stand,
for the ones who try again,
for the ones who need a hand,
for the ones who think they can.
It comes and goes in waves.


Hello again, myself.

Last week, I applied for a new debit card. I already have one, but the magnetic stripe is tore up a little bit so sometimes the cashier will have to swipe it few times before it got through. A week later, the new card was ready. I had to activate the card by calling the customer care line. The operator asked a few questions and just like that, my card was activated. But of course, later on I need to withdraw any amount of money from the ATM machine and wait for 24 hours before I can use it for swiping action and online payment.

Hello. How can I help you?
Hello. I would like to activate my VISA debit card.
Okay. Can you give me your card number?
Alright, they are **** ***** **** ****.
Is it okay if I ask you a few questions for verification purpose?
Sure, no problem.
What is your name?
******* *** ******
Your date of birth?
It’s October 29, 1990.
In which branch of Standard Chartered did you open your account?
Irbid.
How much do you have in your account balance?
God! Currently? I‘m not sure. I never really keep track of my account balance. Can I skip this question?
Just give me a range.
Okay, maybe a couple of *********. Am I screwed?
No you’re okay. Your card is activated now. Can I help you with any other things?
Thank you. No, that would be all.
Okay, have a nice day.
Thank you very much. Bye.

When I mentioned I didn’t really keep track of my account balance, I really mean it. I’m not saying that’s a good thing to do, but I’m just stating that not everybody keep track of their account balance. So I’m not really sure if that’s a wise thing to include that question in the verification process. I withdraw, spend and let the bank deals with my balance. That’s not a good habit because we should always know the status of our finance so we can plan ahead. What if the bank messed up?

Are you a shopaholic? Or a big spender, as one may say. I don’t think I am. But when I want to buy something, I don’t really look at the prices. Some might compare between various stores, but I don’t really do that. I just buy it when I see it. I don’t really care about the prices. I hate dealing with numbers, so that could be one of the reasons. I don’t really know how much one thing should cost, I mean like its standard price. When I say I don’t remember the price of the things I bought, I really mean it.

Some people find happiness by shopping. These are shopaholics. When they’re feeling empty, they shop again. And again. And again. That’s not a pure happiness. You can never satisfy yourself like that. It’s like an ongoing continuous process where you need refreshment every time you run out of ‘it’. Of course, when you’re living a rich life where you have no limit of money supply, you will not see that as a problem.

I once thought I like to shop. Few years ago, I went to Dubai. Lucky as one may say, there was a shopping festival during my visit there. It was like the biggest annual shopping festival. Lots of discounts and half prices. I thought I would buy lots of things. But to be truth, I’m not really a shopper. I didn’t really buy anything there. But I have to admit that Dubai is indeed a nice place for shopping.


Yes, Dubai is like a different version of Arab world.

Have you ever tried buying things on the internet? My first experience was with this online shopping site centered in Middle East. I bought a hands free earpiece and a case for my phone. The delivery took a very long time. I also read some other complaints about their bad service, so I decided not to order from this site anymore.

My second trial was with a low fare flight company. I booked my flight tickets directly from the site. It was easy and the process went really smooth. Well, there was not gonna be any deliveries so that’s why. At the same time, I booked hotel rooms for my stay in Italy and London.


How I miss spending my time alone in Italy. It was like an accomplishment. Somehow, I always think that I'm gonna be alone for the rest of my life. :/

After that, I would like to order some books from the site eBay. But I have some problem with my PayPal account. I turned over to the site amazon, but I encountered some problems too. So that was all.

I would like to highlight some problem here in Jordan concerning online payment and later on the deliveries of your order. We don’t use residency address here. Any formal or official business must be through the rental mail box. Lucky me, students can register the university personal mail box for free. I hope the system will get better maybe after 10 years. This country really needs to sort this thing out and gets everything organized. I think the capital city has already used the residency address system because I notice each house in Amman is labeled with a number so that must be the house number right?

Oh just to clear things up, I don't come from a rich family. My sister always scolded me for spending too much money on school trips but hey, I was a little kid. I knew nothing about financial management and less that I knew that we had to save money for house needs. She was right though. I did join too many school trips. I wouldn't miss every chance I had.

Both of my parents have different approach than my elder sister. They don't want their children to think or worry about money. So they always say YES whenever I asked. I remember the routine pep talk my parents used to give us about how we must study really really hard so we can achieve a financially better life in the future. I can actually see that we're living much better than we used to before. All praise to Him. Damn it, writing about all this makes me feel sad all of sudden.

Do you like to buy things? Why do you buy things? Do you really need them? Have you ever had a financial problem in your life? Is shopping your obsession? How long can you stay out of stores or malls? Do you frequently check your savings account?

P.S. Those spam messages really bother me. I might take the chat box down.


I keep trying to walk,
but my feet don't find the solid ground.
I keep trying to scream,
but my tongue has finally lost its sound.

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