ATM, Hunger, Exhaustion

This weekend I was celebrating a friend’s birthday. The party was for a girl, and she decided to have a sleepover. Because she was a girl, all of the guys (myself included) had to leave after her dad left.

By the time I left, it was about one o’clock in the morning. I got a case of the munchies and decided to stop by McDonald’s. But, being the “responsible and aware” young person that I am, I wanted to go to the ATM and check my balance before I used my debit card.

Once at the ATM, I went through motions of entering my security information, when finally, the receipt with my balance surfaced, and I saw that I had more than enough to enjoy my midnight feast.

I went ahead and drove next door and went through the drive through. I gave my order, and pulled up to the window. Opening up my wallet to pay, however, made my stomach drop. I had quickly come to the realization that I had never taken my debit card from the machine. I told the clerk that I would be right back and I ran (literally) next door to my bank’s ATM. Needless to say, it wasn’t there.

I went back to my car and told the clerk what had happened. He was very understanding, but without any cash to my name, I had to leave without my chicken nuggets

I drove home nauseously worried. I hoped that the ATM had eaten the card, but the possibility still existed that it had been stolen. As soon as I arrived home, I ran up to my room and called MasterCard. After the third connection, I was directed to the correct agent who cancelled my card. Thankfully, no transactions were reported.

Maybe I was just tired, maybe I was just excited for some McDonald’s, or maybe it was a combination of both. However it happened, I never got my food and now have to wait two weeks for a new card. I don’t really know if there’s a moral to this story, but I do know this could have been much worse.

Update: Great news. I dropped by my bank on the next business day. I told them what happened and a couple days later I received my card in the mail.