Here’s something that’s interesting. In the post below I mentioned that I signed my name next to a massive lunch bill. It was a fun experience, but also in some ways scary. Let me explain.

Monday I was in charge of taking a group of about 14 Germans to lunch at Red Lobster. We had a nice leisurely meal and when the check arrived (almost $400) I handed the waitress a corporate credit card with somebody else’s name on it. I added an extra tip for their trouble and signed my own name—my own name, as in not the name on the credit card. The signature on the bill didn’t just look a little different from the one on the card; it was a completely different name. But nobody thought to ask me about it. At no point was I asked to show my ID.

After lunch we went to Starbucks. Same thing. Large bill, credit card that wasn’t mine, signature that didn’t match and no questions asked. Of course, I had permission to be using the card, but they didn’t know that.

A few weeks ago I made a 250-dollar purchase on my own credit card, and was never asked to show ID. That worries me. I rarely sign my name on digital card readers in stores anymore. I either scribble lines like a child who hasn’t yet learned to write, or I write a single random word like “hello.” Many places don’t even require a signature anymore if the total is under a set amount. Casey once told me that he’s made no-questions-asked purchases with Amelia’s debit card, and her face is on it. I thought we were living in an identity theft conscious age. Does this stuff worry anybody else?