"I'm sorry - the company wants us to hold the card.."

Roughly twenty-five years ago, in a period I like to call
"The God-Forsaken 80s", I worked in a record store.
Yes - records. Big discs made of vinyl/plastic. When
we got in the first few CDs, no one knew what they
were, and the girls who were cashiers basically used
them as makeup mirrors since the few discs we had
were stored in the glass display case at the front of the
store. Anyway....

The store was located in Harvard Square in Cambridge
Massachusetts. Most of the customers were college
students who attended either Harvard or Radcliffe.
Many of these "kids" would come into the store,
grab dozens of items, and present a credit card
that belonged to one of their parents. I know, it
was a simpler time and all....but it was still not
really legal to use another person's credit card. I
think most stores would simply take the cards
and assume it would be alright, but I NEVER
accepted any card that didn't belong to the person
presenting it. And you wouldn't BELIEVE the way
some of these young "adults" would act! I think the
reaction was what Frank Zappa meant by "a
petulant frenzy":

Me: "I'm sorry, I can't take this. It doesn't belong
to you."

Spoiled Ivy League Legacy Student: "WHAT!? YOU
HAVE TO ACCEPT IT! IT BELONGS TO MY
FATHER!!!"

Big scene, every time. I used to enjoy it. But I never
took a card if the owner wasn't present. These people
would get all indignant, throw temper tantrums,
threaten to "report me", threaten to "have me fired",
etc. A few times, I called the card company for
approval and they asked me to hold the card.
Ah, the looks on the faces were priceless.

I remembered these kids and the way they acted
as I was watching a certain "president" get all huffy
because his "credit card" was not being accepted
without question. Oh, no! Responsibility!
Accountability! Has a "bad parent" taken away his
"freedom"????

Which also got me thinking about what's going to
happen if the "energy terrsts" loose control of the
country in the next election. Will "The Patriot Act"
stand? Or, will it be exposed for the lame fraud
it was - designed only so this administration would
have NO LAWS TO ABIDE - when in the last days
of power we hear the phrase "Mission Accomplished"
again and the Act is removed by decree so the next
president can't use it?? [well, unless he's a Republican
and a good friend of the family]

Will that prove that the "Mission" was to rule without
constitutional oversight?

I don't know who will win the next election. Frankly,
I can't stand any of the declared candidates on either
side. But, it's all we've got.

Unfortunately, most of those Ivy League kids I had
to deal with back in the GF80s are now probably just
about the right age to be running for office.

Quick, Ma, Junior's comin'. Hide the credit cards!