My credit card is
just as good as Mom’s

CREDIT cards are often thought of as tools of financial ruin, but they are rarely recognized as instruments of discrimination. Consider a story with the following cast of characters:

A woman whose youthful appearance easily fools others into thinking she is a high school student.

A man who looks like he is in his late teens to early 20s. His frequently unshaven face, bloodshot eyes and wrinkled clothing give him an unsavory appearance.

A woman past middle age who is dressed neatly.

The stories unfold:

The young woman goes into a well-known drug store. She doesn't have much cash with her, so she uses a credit card to pay for a bag of potato chips.

The cashier mumbles an unfriendly greeting and mentally questions her age and credit card use, disapprovingly monitoring the woman as she signs the receipt. The cashier then scrutinizes the signatures on both card and receipt for an extended moment before relenting and muttering a "thank you."

The young woman leaves the store wondering why she was treated so poorly when the middle-aged woman in line before her was welcomed cheerfully by the same cashier.

Perhaps the cashier would have been nicer if she knew the young woman was a 19-year-old college student using a perfectly legitimate card with no record whatsoever of an outstanding balance.

Meanwhile, the man goes to another well-known store to buy some snacks and school supplies with his credit card.

The clerk automatically decides the man is a seedy character because of his shabby appearance, and asks to see an ID to make sure the man isn't a criminal with a stolen card.

As they go through the receipt routine, the clerk eyes the man up and down with suspicion and stares long and hard at the signatures on the card and receipt before handing the customer his copy.

NEXT, the older woman goes into a supermarket and pushes a full cart of groceries up to a cashier. She then whips out her credit card and slides it through the customer card machine.

The woman diligently puts her card on the counter, signature side up, for the cashier to see. Barely glancing at the card, he hands it back and casually tells the woman, "Oh, that's OK. Our store only wants your money."

The woman is shocked by the cashier's lack of regard in the matter. About a year ago, she found fraudulent charges on her credit-card bill, probably due to a careless salesperson like this one who didn't check to see if the woman was using a counterfeit card.

The bogus charges were especially frustrating because they were made in California, over the phone, and the woman had never left Hawaii.

TOO unlikely to be true? Tell that to the older woman -- my mom. While you're at it, try to refute the stories of the man, a good friend of mine, and the younger woman, me.

It's funny how merchants like these generally trust "responsible" looking adults over "reckless" teens with credit cards, even though any well-dressed adult is equally likely to have stolen credit cards.

It's also funny how merchants don't seem to be as outwardly rude when they check an adult's card.

Verifying the authorized use of a credit card is a necessary part of a merchant's job. But it should not turn into a judgment call based solely on appearance and perceived character of the customers. When it does, both merchants and customers end up paying the price.

---

Cherie Chun is a sophomore at the
University of Hawaii. She doesn't usually use a
credit card for payments of a dollar or less.

Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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