Life sure has changed over the past few years. In fact, if you look back just a decade or so ago, you would have never been able to tell anyone that someday, their lives would depend on a little computer screen and the entire world would be run electronically. That is the situation we find ourselves in these days and it can make thing convenient or perhaps, even frustrating. In the following fictional story, which may just be based on a true story, a man goes head to head with a computer and we go along for the crazy ride.
In March of 1992 a man living in Newton, Massachusetts, received a bill on his as yet unused credit card stating that he owed $0.00. He threw it away.
In April he received another and tossed that one, too. The following month the credit card company sent him a nasty note stating they were going to cancel his card if he didn’t send them $0.00. In retrospect, he probably should have let them do that. Instead, he called the company and was informed that (are you ready for this?) the problem was the result of a computer error. They told him they’d take care of it.
The following month he reasoned that, if other charges appeared on the card, then it would put an end to his ridiculous predicament. Besides, they assured him the problem would be resolved. So he presented his card for a purchase. It was declined. Once again he called. He learned that the credit card had been canceled for lack of payment. They apologized for (here it is again) another computer error and promised they would rectify the situation.
The next day he got a bill for $0.00 stating that payment was now overdue.
Assuming that this bill was yet another mistake, he ignored it. But the following month he received yet another bill for $0.00 stating that he had ten days to pay his account in full or the company would take necessary steps to recover the debt. He gave in. He mailed in a check for $0.00.
The computer duly processed it and returned a statement to the effect that his account was paid in full.
A week later, the man’s bank called him asking him why he wrote a check for $0.00. He explained the problem at length. The bank replied that the $0.00 check had caused their check processing software to fail. The bank could not now process ANY checks from ANY of their customers that day because the check for $0.00 caused a computer crash.
The following month the man received a letter from the credit card company claiming that his check had bounced, that he still owed $0.00 and, unless payment was sent immediately, they would institute procedures to collect this debt.
This man, who had been considering buying his wife a computer for her birthday, bought her a typewriter instead.
