merida

yesterday i decided to buy 1 or 2 t shirts to wear to school because the weather is so warm here. i brought some long sleeved shirts with me but they´re much too warm in the afternoon. i went into a rather large clothing store. i had fair amount of cash with me but i saw the credit card signs, so i decided to pay by credit card. getting cash in merida is difficult to say the least. the atm´s will simply not recognize my gringo atm card, so i have to go into the bank, stand in line forever, etc., in order to withdraw the money using the card.

so i went to the check out counter with 2 t shirts, about a $10 purchase. The poor young salesgirl looked at my credit card. it obviously looked very foreign to her. she looked at me and asked me if i had my cedula (domestic id card) with me. i told her i didn´t have a domestic id card and that i had intentionally left my passport at home in merida for safekeeping. i showed her my driver´s license with my photo on it. she was obviously very perplexed so she called over the lady jefe of the cash register section. by this time, about a dozen lady customers were all standing near me and couple of them were intervening on my behalf with the sales girl and jefe of the dept.

the jefe started the questions all over again. i should show her my cedula. i said the u.s. was not as modern as veneuela. we don´t have a domestic id card. now both the jefe and the salesgirl were more suspicious than ever. after all, everyone knows the u.s. has the most of everything. everyone in the country must have at least TWO domestic id cards. one of the customer ladies volunteered that she had actually visited the u.s. and it was true they don´t have domestic id cards and she could attest to this fact that in the loose u.s., one did not need an id card to use a credit card.

both the jefe and the sales girl were in complete disbelief, and started passing around my driver´s license and credit card to the 3 or 4 ladies that were helping me. everyone was studying my 2 cards with great interest, while talking all at once. i was somewhat lost to the side. i was not taking part in the conversation because i was too busy hawkeyeing my credit card and driver´s license.

fially, with great reluctance and displeasure the store manager swiped the card. to save face, she required that i write on the back side of the sales slip my complete local address and telephone number. i then thanked all the ladies profusely and they wished me well.

back at home in merida, the senora of the house, not a particularly worldly wise person, told me to carry a photocopy of my passport with me (!). now why hadn´t i thought of that???